Swapped In
by AKAkris10
Summary: Things feel pretty hopeless when your life feels like the plot of some anime. (Part of her is thankful that, at least it's a good story.) Mikumo Mori seems to just have the worst of luck, sucks that she was the one swapped in for a main character, huh? (Or is it Osamu's bad luck? Did she inherit it? The curse of the main character?)
1. Elastic Heart

"I took this battle shot with a telephoto lens~"

"Whoa, the Neighbour's huge!"

"Did you hear that Border recruited her boyfriend?"

"For real?! Wow!"

"I wanna join Border too! ' _Trigger, on_ '!"

"Yeah right."

"Don't bother."

I tapped my pencil against the edge of my desk impatiently, waiting for the teacher to get here. I had begun counting to ten, just as something hit me in the back of the head, making me jolt forward in my seat.

"Ha, you were supposed to catch that!"

"Man, you suck."

"Give it back!" I heard someone plead from behind me, voice overshadowed by the others.

"Hey four eyes, fork it over." One of the bullies said to me lowly, attempting to look threatening.

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eyes, before tossing the pencil case to the victim with a roll of my eyes.

"Look after your belongings better," I advised, turning in my chair to completely ignore the three bullies.

Two of them walked up behind my desk, one of them whistling an annoying tune. "Soooo cool~"

"Man, what a downer." The other mumbled, the threat in his voice going in one ear and out the other as I continued to ignore their presence.

"Where's the teacher?" A girl asked someone from the front of the class, unknowingly voicing my thoughts.

"I bet she's taking care of the transfer student." Another responded nonchalantly, much to my surprise.

' _We're getting a new student? Wait, why now? It's nearing exams soon, it'll be such a pain for them_ …'

"Nobody transfers into Mikado city." Someone in the front pointed out to the boy behind him.

His friend leaned over with a grin as if sharing a secret. "I can see people transferring out. Maybe they're in Border?"

'… _I hope not. If they were, the class would never shut up_.' I thought with a sigh, yet with my head resting in my arms, no one else could see the curious glimmer in my eyes.

' _I wonder what they look like…?_ '

"I'm Kuga Yuma! I may be short, but I'm 15 years old! Apologies for my tardiness!" The white-haired boy spoke cheerfully, giving a lazy bow to the class.

I was rather amazed by how short he was, but the colour of his hair stood out most to me. It was quite striking, and honestly, memorable. I suppose first impressions really do mean a lot.

"He's been living overseas," Mizunuma-Sensei began. "It's his first time in Japan, so let's all help him out."

"Is he foreign?" A girl whispered to her friend not far from me.

Her friend beside her shook her head. "No, he just lived abroad."

"Hey, teacher!" One of the bullies called out from behind me, and I fought to keep my head from turning his way. "He's wearing a ring! Isn't that against school rules?" His voice was taunting, and frankly, I was surprised neither of the teachers lectured him for the tone. Instead, he turned to Kuga.

"A ring…?" He mumbled, before finally getting a good look at the black band that slipped around Kuga's finger perfectly.

"Oh, right." Mizunuma-Sensei pointed to his hand. "Accessories are a no-no."

"Take it off. Now." Moribayashi-Sensei stated bluntly, his volume preventing him from hearing the snickering coming from the back of the room. "I'll hold on to it."

"What?" Kuga's expression tensed almost comically, as he stared up at the teacher with indignation. "I can't."

I stifled a snicker as quickly as I could, just as Moribayashi's face screwed up with shock.

"What do you mean?! Hand it over!" He said as strictly as he could manage.

"No, I mean it. For real." Kuga countered with a somewhat lax tone, although I could see an underlying hint of panic in his body language.

"Accessories are forbidden! Those are the rules! You have to follow these rules to attend this school!" Moribayashi yelled, clearly believing he had won this argument.

"What!?" Kuga yelled, turning to the door with a forlorn expression as he slumped over. "I'll give up then… Sorry for the trouble…"

"HUH!? Hey—Wait, hold on here!"

"Teacher…" I interrupted in a bored tone, a hint of impatience mixed in. Acting like I was bored all the time made me feel less nervous than I actually was. "Kuga-san's ring is obviously important… There must be a reason…?"

"A reason?" He repeated, attention drawn off of Kuga for a moment, much to his relief.

I heard a sneer from behind me. "Four eyes again."

"Little miss perfect hero."

My eye twitched violently underneath my glasses, but no one seemed to take notice.

"What is this ring, anyway?" Moribayashi mumbled, adjusting his glasses.

"It's a memento of my father," Kuga said clearly, staring Moribayashi right in the eyes.

"Teacher~" The guy behind me piped up once more. "The comic book you confiscated yesterday was a memento of my grandpa!"

"And that video game last week!" Said his friend from beside him, their annoying voices echoing in my ears.

Moribayashi scoffed as he turned back to Kuga. "What a ridiculous lie! Hand it over right now!"

"What?" Kuga's expression grew serious, and unknown to most in the classroom, his eyes grew dark as he stared unflinchingly into Moribayashi's. "I'm not lying."

A shiver went down my spine, similar to the teacher as he backed away with a pale complexion. "F-fine... if you say so... Mizunuma-san, a moment please...!"

"O-oh!" She forcefully swept away the startled emotions that were clear on her face, before turning to address the class. "Study hall everyone! Mikumo, help Kuga get settled please!"

"Eh?" I asked. "Why? I have better things to do."

" ** _Mikumo_**."

"Fine, fine..." I groaned dramatically before standing up to face the short, white-haired kid at my desk.

"Nice to meet you," I mumbled reluctantly, holding out a hand to shake.

Kuga grinned. "Nice to meet you." He returned, shaking my hand as he sat down.

-0-

A tap of paper against flesh rung out in the classroom.

I moved my head almost unnoticeably, along with Kuga who had turned to glance at the force nonchalant boys sitting behind us.

We turned back towards the front, yet once again, a wad of paper was thrown at the back of Kuga's head.

We tried to ignore it a few more times, however, after the seventh time, Kuga caught a ball in his hand and stood up to face them.

"Say. What's this? What's your point?"

The three boys took a glance at him as they snickered lowly. "' _What's this_ '? It's just a greeting. A Japanese welcome." The leader sneered, and I kept myself still as Kuga's eyes grew dark once again.

"I see."

He scrunched up the paper even further, until it was half of its original size and fit into the crook of his hand, his thumb drawn back to flick.

"A ' _Japanese welcome_ ', huh?"

He lashed out with his finger, allowing the paper to flash forward at an impossible speed, and slam into the guy's forehead.

To everyone's astonishment, the boy grunted as his chair fell backwards, landing him on the floor pitifully.

His two friends stood up defensively. "Hey, what was that?!"

Kuga grinned, laidback, hand not falling down from its flicking position.

"Wasn't that just 'a Japanese welcome'?"

I stifled a snicker along with everyone else in the class.

' _Honestly, they had that coming to them_.'

The boy grabbed Kuga's collar and held him up threateningly, face twisted into a ferocious scowl. "Do you want to fight, shrimp?!"

"C'mon, don't make up stupid lies. Do you wanna be my friend, or not?"

"You—!"

"Hey, we're still in class!" Mizunuma-sensei lectured from the door, getting everyone's attention. "Back to your seats!"

The three boys growled, but Kuga only shrugged and sat back down, slouching and relaxing immediately.

-0-

"You shouldn't mess with them like that."

Kuga turned with a puzzled expression, bag slung over his arm lazily. "What do you mean by that?"

I shrugged. "You shouldn't make small talk like that with them. Either you shut up and obey the bullies, or you crush them so badly that they're too scared to even go near you. Only one is gonna help you, but the law says that you shouldn't fight back, or it ' _makes you no better than them_ '." I elaborated with quotations, a bitter frown on my face.

He seemed even more confused with the explanation. "But if you don't fight back, they'll never leave you alone. It's common sense."

"You know, you'd think that," I added on with a grin. "But the Government just seems intent on protecting everyone that doesn't deserve it, huh?"

He paused for a moment, footsteps only faltering for a moment.

"...I suppose."

"Hey, shrimp."

We turned instantly at the threatening, gravelly voice.

"Let's take a walk." One boy 'suggested'.

"Not like you have a choice." Another clarified directly afterwards.

"Sure thing!" Kuga agreed easily, already walking along.

I stepped up right behind them, much to their displeasure.

"Eh...? Four eyes, go home and clean your damn glasses or something."

"Yeah, you're not invited!" Another taunted.

I dimly recognize the feeling of me shrugging. "Sorry, but Mizunuma-sensei told me to make sure he settled in fine. I'll have to come with you guys. Besides, I like the kid and I wanna make sure he's alright."

The leader of the group grinned menacingly, with a hint of irritation mixed in. "You know, useless four-eyes that can't fight back should usually stay out of the damn way."

' _Oh, he thinks I'll be going down easy_.'

'... _I don't mind standing strong through millions of punches if there's someone else around. I've only stayed quiet because I've always been alone, you know?_ '

-0-

"What the hell?!"

I moved to the right, dodging a punch to my stomach. "Sorry, but you're a little slow," I mentioned nonchalantly.

I felt someone hit me in the back of the head, and I dizzily dodged a kick to my torso again.

"Ganging up on a girl... this is kinda unfair, don't you think?"

"That's part of how fights work...?" Kuga pointed out confusedly. "And why'd you follow me anyways, four eyes?"

I'm starting to hate that nickname.

"I know it's how fights work," I grumbled tiredly, moving away from another punch. "Doesn't mean I have to like it."

I tried to ignore the burning in my lungs and the way my breaths came in short.

"Anyways!" I said loudly, getting everyone's attention. "Don't you get that we've gone into the forbidden zone? This is restricted, only Border can go through here."

I was interrupted as a kick came very close to my face.

"We know what the sign says. Do you think we can't read? Huh?!" He droned on irritatedly, eyes narrowed at me.

"It's deserted, that's the point! What, aren't you gonna scream for mommy or something?!"

' _My mother would beat you all with a stick and a hand behind her back five times to Friday_.' I thought as my eye twitched, trying to ignore the fist that came very close to hitting my nose.

"Your friend's in trouble. Why don't you help her out?" The bully pointed out to Kuga with a smirk.

Said teen only blinked, honestly confused.

"Help her? Why? Four eyes decided to stick her neck into this, why should I do anything about it?"

I internally agreed with the decision, although that didn't stop a tinge of disgruntlement making it into my expression.

The guy cackled hysterically after a beat of silence. "Wow, this guy is so heartless! You've just been dumped, he's inhuman!"

My eyes widened as the guy reached out to grab a pipe that was abandoned in the wreckage.

"Though as mad as I am at four eyes... I'm way angrier at you!" He screamed while swinging down the bar towards Kuga's head.

Kuga caught the hand holding the pipe instantly, and as if it were in slow motion, I saw every second as Kuga lifted up his leg, and brutally smashed the bones in the bully's foot.

I barely registered the sound of him screaming in pain as Kuga tossed the pipe away.

"Is it my turn now...? Or maybe, is it over?"

His eyelids parted slightly, and his eerie red eyes made everyone, myself included, freeze where we stood.

In the open silence as I tried to get a grip on how to breathe, a loud alarm rang out with an ear-splitting shriek from the nearby building that sheltered the company ' _Border_ '.

" ** _GATE DETECTED. COORDINATES MARGIN OF ERROR: 7.66_**."

I stared up at the sky in horror, screams of fear echoing from around me as the boys scrambled to their feet to run away.

" ** _THOSE IN THE IMMEDIATE AREA SHOULD EXERCISE EXTREME CAUTION_**."

A black hole opened up, and a monster tumbled out from just above our heads.

-0-

"IT'S A NEIGHBOUR! RUN!"

I gasped in surprise, standing still as the monster tipped its head up to the sky as if to howl.

"Oh good, it's going the other way." Kuga nonchalantly stated, picking up our bags and slinging them over his shoulders. "Let's get outta here, four-eyes."

I was about to begin running with him, but a weak whimper reached my ears.

"W-wait…! My f-foot!"

I turned back with a sharp inhale, the first bully lying on the ground with his hand outstretched as if to be helped up by an invisible force. He attempted to crawl further away, but the Neighbour swooped down and clamped down on his legs with its jaw.

The boy let out a shrill scream, his friends running away not far behind as they began squealing like characters from a horror movie.

I clicked my tongue before running off his direction with a scowl plastered on my face.

"I'm going to help them!" I yelled back at a baffled Kuga. "Take my bag for me, I'll meet up with you later!"

"Hey! It's their own fault, they went into the forbidden zone!"

I ignored his(perfectly logical)reasoning.

"Why are you going to help them?!"

I grit my teeth.

"It's cause I'm a moron!"

-0-

A leg batted me to the side easily, sending me crashing into a building.

The force knocked the wind out of me, and black spots erupted in my vision.

-0-

"Hey." A voice buzzed through the white noise filling my brain.

I could see a blurry form of the white-haired boy in front of me, a black shroud fading away to reveal his school uniform.

"You ok, four-eyes…. Mori?"

It took me a moment to answer.

"I… I think I cracked something...?" I wheezed. "And I…. can s-see that… you're not what you seem, huh?"

He shrugged. "I'll explain later. Though you charged in there all cool and stuff, but… you're really weak."

"Shut it." I gasped for air as he helped me up. "I did say I was a moron."

I felt something shifting in my ribs, the jostle cutting me off as I hissed in pain.

"Oh…. I definitely wrecked something… Ow…."

"The others got away, in case you were wondering."

I focused on keeping my breathing regular, slightly thankful for the small talk he was indulging in. "So… was that a—" I took a deep breath. "… A Trigger. I think that's what it was, right…? Are you in Border?"

"I'm not in Border." He denied. "This is my dad's Trigger. My late dad. ' _If I die, go to Japan. My friend is in an agency called Border_ '. That's what he told me… So I came here."

I nodded, hissing out a weak _hey I'm gonna lean on you_. Thankfully, he supported my arm swung over his shoulder without much protest. "I see… I wonder if he was illegally sold a Trigger like…."

I pushed the thought of my old tutor out of my head. It wouldn't solve anything to sulk now.

"Nope." I got the feeling that if his hands were free, he'd be waving one dismissively. "In the other world, Triggers are everywhere. So I'm what you call a Neighbour, hm?"

And at that statement, I nearly fainted.

-0-

"What do you mean you're a Neighbour?!" I whisper yelled, the two of us walking along the sidewalk. "Neighbours are those giant monster things… According to Border, anyways."

"Uh, no." Kuga shot down immediately. "That one was a Trion soldier, a puppet created by Neighbours. The Neighbours who live on the other side of the gates… are people, like us."

I was about to protest at his abundance of knowledge, but the sharp inhale made a wave of pain erupt from my ribs.

"Whoa, whoa, don't push yourself." He chided with a carefree tone. "But I had nothing to do with that one. There are all sorts of people on the other side."

"…So it's just like over here… Some bad people, s-some are alright… huh, when you put it like that, it makes sense."

"Right? Anyways… If you really are this uninformed about this, maybe Border isn't what I thought…? My dad said it's sort of, a bridge between worlds. So to say."

I shook my head furiously. "Border is an organization created to kill Neighbours!" I hissed. "They protect the city and kill anything that comes out of those gates, if they know that you're a Neighbour, they'll send B-ranks—no, maybe even A-ranks to hunt you down! And that's not counting the fact that you **_apparently_** have a Trigger!"

"Huh…?" He places a hand on his chin. "That could be problematic… Also, it's very different from what my dad told me… All right." He bumped a hand into his fist before cross his arms. "Forget everything I just said. I'm not a Neighbour. I'm very Japanese!"

I screamed internally in frustration, but only sighed.

"You know, if they know I'm collaborating with a Neighbour, I'll be in danger too."

He tilted his head with a smirk. "It's a good thing I'm not a Neighbour, huh?"

 _That's not the point_ I wanted to scream in his face but refrained.

"…You don't know anything about Japan though. It's suspicious, to be frank."

' _I can go along with his lie for now. It's not like I'm in Border, it's not my job to kill or report him. To me, he's just a foreigner_.'

"Wait a minute." He lifted a hand to his stomach as a loud growling noise echoed. "I'm hungry."

"I'll treat you to some food. As thanks for saving me."

"But I have some Japanese money, I haven't used any yet." He protested.

"You don't know the currency around here." I shot back. "I know that if I suddenly got dropped in America, I wouldn't know how much everything costs. Trust me, I'll tell you how it works later when we're not out in the open for Border to find."

He thought for a moment, before seemingly making his decision. "Alright then. Teach me about how Japan works, Mori. If I know more about it, I might assimilate better. Right?"

'…. _My life has officially hit rock bottom_.'

"Alright." I conceded. "I'll teach you about Japan. But in return, you need to listen to what I say, alright?"

"Great! Thanks a lot!"

-0-

"Listen Kuga. Don't tell anyone what happened yesterday. That we got attacked by a Neighbour… and don't tell a soul that you're a Neighbour yourself."

He nodded along.

"Whatever you do, don't stand out in a way that draws Border's attention to us."

He took a bite of his lunch.

"Don't injure people beyond repair if they haven't made a move to hurt you. **_And don't use your Trigger_**."

"That's a pretty suffocating life." He objected( _Finally_ ). "But, if you say so… I'll go along with it."

"Hey, what the heck is going on?"

I cringed at the obnoxious voice filtering through my ears.

"There're so~ many people up here!"

"Who gave you permission to use the roof? Huh?!"

"The three idiots from yesterday. You'd think nothing happened to them." Kuga commented, prying a thermos open.

"You guys first years?"

"Did you eat your lunch up here? Was it good?"

I heard someone stammering in-between their words.

"You owe us a roof usage fee. 500 yen each."

"There's a rule like that?" Kuga asked.

"Of course not." I protested irritatedly. I made a move to get up but hissed in pain as the movement jostled my bruised ribs. Thankfully I had taped an Icepack to the bruised area to keep down the swelling, but it didn't stop it from stinging.

"Hey, don't get up." Kuga patted my shoulder casually.

"I'm a moron." I only offered as an excuse but paused in the movement to get up anyway. "But we need to get by them, I have to get up anyway."

He wrapped up his lunch, grabbing mine for me, much to my gratitude. "Are you sure I can't beat them up?"

"I'd prefer you not." I weakly commented, but shouldn't quite hold back my joy at the thought of them getting what they deserved.

Though Kuga seemed to know what I was thinking and sent me a small smirk.

"Seems even the law-abiding four-eyes wants to punch them in the face, huh?"

I didn't answer, but coughed uncomfortably.

Kuga dropped the topic and sighed in boredom. "Japan is so nice to bad guys."

Kuga stomped down his foot, sending a shockwave over the area. I almost tipped over, but he offered a shoulder for me to lean on.

"Sorry, but…"

Kuga grinned loftily at the shell shocked bully.

"Can you step aside?"

-0-

"That was pretty peaceful, right?" He gestured to the door as we walked away from the stairs. "I didn't hit him."

He seemed almost proud of the fact.

"I guess it was…" I conceded reluctantly, taking my lunch box from his hand. "Can we go to sit down somewhere else? My ribs hurt again."

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" He questioned, and _is that a hint of worry I hear?_

"I'll be fine." I evaded, sitting down on a desk in the nearby empty class. "It's just bruised, I think. Should just be careful for now, or else I'll make it worse."

"Man, I sure was lucky that you're the first person I told about being a Neighbour." He gave me a carefree smile. "If I had told anyone else, I would've been swarmed by Border agents by now!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" I hissed with a small tint of red on my cheeks from embarrassment. "I'm not a very good person you know. Can't even muster up the motivation to fight properly, and I run into danger like a moron. You would've been better off on your own, and judging by how little you know about the earth, **_that's saying something._** "

His expression melted into something more serious, but a loud siren cut him off from saying more.

" ** _WARNING. WARNING. A GATE IS OPENING IN THE CITY. PLEASE EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY. I REPEAT, A GATE IS OPENING. PLEASE EVACUATE AT ONCE_**."

My head snapped towards the side, and I stared through the window in horror.

"Neighbours outside of the emergence area?! What's going on, why can't Border just do their job?"

"Huh, two Marmods," Kuga observed, referring to the two Trion soldiers craving through the gate.

"Why is a gate opening so far from the base?!"

We swung open the door to the classroom, intent on evacuating with the rest of the school.

"Do we have everyone?!"

We turned to the new voice, seeing Moribayashi-sensei along with another school staff member.

"This side is done, but the south wing…!"

-0-

"South wing it is?" Kuga asked with a knowing glance to me. "You can't even move without more pain, have you even thought about how you're going to do this?"

"I'm a moron." I only responded, sweat dripping from my forehead.

"Marmods are Trion battle soldiers." Kuga droned on, jogging beside me. "They're not like Bamsters, who specialize in capture. Without a Trigger, you will die."

"I'm not gonna run into the battle without a plan." I cut in with a wince. "But if I have a plan to help anyone, I'm going without a word. but for now, let's stay at the entrance and see if everyone gets out."

"We're pretty far from the Border base," Kuga commented. "It'll take too long for anyone to get here, but it won't help anyone if you charge in without a weapon."

We stood outside the building under attack, my thoughts running a mile an hour as I tried to formulate a plan that could get everyone out alright.

' _Kuga could beat them though_.'

My blood froze in my veins.

'— _No. Even with his Trigger, I told him not to use it. I won't go back on my word._ '

Suddenly, a voice from inside the building resounded.

"TRIGGER ON!"

Our heads snapped up in disbelief.

"There's a Border agent here?" Kuga raised his voice slightly over the chaos.

I saw a flash of white clothing through the smoke in the windows.

' _No, that's a C-Rank! They're only at a trainee level! He's not nearly strong enough to take out a Trion soldier, much less a combat oriented one if Kuga's telling the truth! They'll be killed with no battle experience!_ '

A plan formed itself in my mind.

"Kuga," I spoke up, not looking at Kuga. "Sorry."

"Hm?" He turned to me, but I shot off like a bullet towards the building, much to his astonishment.

-0-

"EEK!"

A large claw-like appendage ripped through a window, hitting the wall beside the students.

The C-Rank student aimed their Scorpion at the claw and ripped it off with a cocky smirk.

' _Border is sure to promote me if I can take down these Neighbours! I've been stuck at C-Rank for months._..'

He thrust the Scorpion at the Neighbours head, knocking it down to ground level yet doing no damage.

'… _but with this, they'll have no choice, but to accept my brilliance!_ '

"Everyone, evacuate!" He yelled at the stunned students. "I'll take down these pesky Neighbours, you go tell the teachers I'm killing them!"

The students brushed off the initial surprise and bolted to the stairs. He gave another overconfident smirk and lifted his blade to block the Marmod's arm that swung at him.

Much to the C-Rank's surprise, the force shattered the fragile Scorpion blade, and knocked him through the wall and caught him off balance.

"Damn Neighbour!" He yelled, but as he lifted his head, a claw stabbed him straight through the chest.

He gasped in surprise, and Trion flowed from the wound like black, gaseous blood. The Trion body exploded in an instant, leaving the overconfident teen in his flesh and blood body.

The shock of being 'killed' had knocked him unconscious though, and the Trion soldier loomed over him, intent on killing the fly in its way.

"Goddamnit!"

Just as the Marmod swung down, a body swiftly grabbed the teen and dragged him out of the way, hissing in pain the entire way.

"Ow, ow ow, ow, ow, FUCK!"

Mori dropped the C-Rank like a rock as soon as they were out of the way, and she reached up to grasp at her ribs.

"Fuck, I have to move!"

She bent down and grasped the abandoned Trigger on the ground.

' _I've got a plan. After all, to fight a Trion soldier, you need a weapon, right?_ '

"Trigger…. on!"

-0-

" ** _COMMENCE TRIGGER ACTIVATION. SCAN ACTIVATOR'S BODY. GENERATE COMBAT FORM. EXCHANGE PHYSICAL BODY WITH COMBAT FORM. DEPLOY MAIN ARMOUR_**."

A thin blade formed in my hands, the pain from my ribs flying away like it never existed.

" ** _TRIGGER ACTIVATION COMPLETE_**."

"All right." I took a deep breath. "This is a horrible idea."

The Marmod swung at me, and I ducked to the side, just like I always have.

' _Dodging is really all I'm good at. It's easy to move away when you can see every attack as clear as day_.'

I dodged another claw and another from the other side.

' _It's way too fast though. This blade is too light to block anything I'd bet… I have to kill it quickly_.'

I jumped towards the Marmod in a blur of motion throwing the blade back as it reared it claws back to swing at me.

I jumped swiftly, my agility boosted by the new body constructed by Trion. I sliced the front legs off and twisted the blade around to catch itself on a groove in the back of hits shell.

"Hup!"

I reared back the blade, and thrust the blade straight downwards to made a clean stab into the eyeball like sphere in its 'mouth'.

Black mist flew from the wound like a wildfire, and the legs abruptly stopped working and let the body drop like a stone.

"Whoa!" I shrieked as the movement threw me off balance. "Man, that was crazier than I thought! Triggers apparently make your body lighter and stronger, but I wasn't expecting that!"

"Hey!"

I turned towards the source, seeing Kuga just down the hall as he pointed to my right.

"The second one is crawling back up!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw two more claws slice forward towards my head from the window.

I flinched back, instinctively covering my eyes, but Kuga flung his arm out towards me and a shield appeared in front of me, taking the blades without much resistance.

I gasped and swung the blade back without any hesitation, and as soon as the shield went down, stabbed the thin blade into the head where I assumed the eye was located.

The blow blew up its head and caused it to crash back to the ground.

The Trigger's Trion body collapsed from around me, and I dropped to the ground as the pain from my ribs crashed into me in an instant.

There was a drawn out silence between the two of us, my exhausted panting the only noise around.

-0-

"We don't make a bad team." I finally muttered with a grin. "You should have your own Trion soldier to fight next time though."

He slowly turned to give me a grin. "Maybe. And I'm sorry for underestimating you, four-eye— no, Mori. Those were some amazing moves."

I laughed loudly in return, tears springing to my eyes as pain exploded in my side.

-0-

"That was quite the battle."

I flinched in surprise, before wincing in pain. A black blob floated out of Kuga's ring.

"What the heck is that?!"

"Talking to someone other than me, Replica? That's rare." Kuga spoke at the same time as me.

"Indeed. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mikumo Mori. My name is Replica, I am Yuma's chaperone."

"Chaperone…?"

"Nice to meet you," Replica repeated, a touch more casually.

Kuga waved his hand reassuringly. "Don't worry, he won't bite."

' _Is it… a Trion soldier…? Kuga did say they were created by humanoid Neighbours…_ '

"Thank you for helping Yuma out. In return, I'll answer your questions about Trion and Triggers."

"What's Trion?" I began bluntly, feeling slightly out of the loop.

"Trion is a Trigger's biological power source. Trion is created in an invisible organ called the Trion gland. It is not known in this world, but mankind all possess one next to their heart. However, there are differences in Trion gland function… just as there are individual variations in strength and reflexes." He answered promptly, brushing aside my bluntness.

"The gland's function is directly related to Trigger power. Everyone has different Trion values… so you would not get the same results if Yuma were to also use the Trigger from that Border agent."

"Trion is super important, but I don't think that was why you were super strong against that Trion soldier," Kuga added with a frown, arms casually crossed. "Your reflexes were unnatural, and that was… a pretty decent fight for someone using a Trigger for the first time—"

"My eyes are pretty good." I deadpanned. "And don't you dare comment on the irony of the glasses, or I will demolish you, bruised ribs or not."

"—I think you have a pretty high Trion level. Maybe just above average for a standard fighter…?"

I shrugged. "I'm more lost than you are. Anyways, we need to carry this idiot C-Rank out of the building, can you help me out?"

-0-

"There they are!"

Kuga and I had one arm each slung over our shoulders, the C-Rank's legs being dragged along the ground awkwardly with Kuga's height difference.

"They're safe!" Someone cheered, although most seemed baffled that we were the ones carrying the supposed 'Border agent'.

"There were two people that fell behind!"

"Are you three alright?!" Mizunuma-sensei asked worriedly, checking the two of us over for injuries.

"He fell unconscious." I filled in quickly. "The two of us are fine, we just—"

I was cut off as a hoard of students swept over us, stealing the Border-trainee from our hands and carrying the unconscious body over to a nearby ambulance. All of the students followed, and as soon as we told the teachers that we were fine, they left as well.

-0-

There was a small silence between the three of us, despite the loud clamouring in the background as people praised the unconscious body of the overconfident C-Rank.

"Shame he's getting the credit." I heard Replica speak up from… Somewhere near Kuga.

"Oh, there'll be no credit." I snorted, the pain from my ribs dulling the more I took deep breaths. "He used a trainee Trigger without permission. As soon as Border gets word of this, he'll be sent off to be swiftly dealt punishment."

"Hm… I suppose that's reasonable. After all, he could have gotten himself killed." Kuga reasoned with himself, a hand on his chin.

-0-

Someone wearing red leapt from a nearby rooftop, gaining everyone's attention as their boots thudded loudly against the ground.

"What's this…? It's over already?! What's going on?!"

My wide eyes took in the sight of the squad symbol on their jackets, five stars in a coat of arms shape proudly contrasting against red.

"Arashiyama squad…!" I murmured in shock, Kuga standing clueless next to me.

"Border agents?" He asked with a tilt of his head.

"They're the ranking No. 5 squad. Super popular, typically the ones that show up on TV." I filled in hurriedly, not once taking my eyes away from them.

"Sorry, we're late! Is anyone hurt?!"

"There was one that fell unconscious. They've been sent to the hospital to be checked up, but they're fine! You must be relieved, huh?" The teacher cheered, strangely not mentioning the Border agent by name.

Arashiyama sighed in relief, clueless to the reason why he should be relieved. "Thank goodness… Everyone made it out alright! But then…"

Arashiyama glanced at the fallen Trion soldier, and Kuga and I shared a nervous look.

"Who in the world… did this?!"

"There was a Border agent here!" One of the kids called out excitedly.

"They didn't tell anyone that they were part of Border, but man, once they took out that Trigger… Those Neighbours were done for!"

Tokieda Mitsuru gathered the students and led them away from the scene, and Kuga and I made to follow before a hand landed itself on my shoulder and a harsh voice startled me.

"Not so fast, C-Rank agent."

The poisonous tone made me flinch, not in pain this time, as we whirled around to face the person speaking.

Narrowed dark eyes bore into me.

' _Kitora…Ai?_ '

"What do you think you're doing, using a trainee Trigger outside of training? And without permission, no less?!"

My mind blanked.

"Uh. I'm sorry, _what_?"

"The trainee Trigger in your hand." She scowled viciously, and suddenly, I was very aware of the coolness of the technology in my hand.

"Um, no, you see—!"

"Kitora, she saved the lives of the students," Arashiyama interjected. "If she hadn't stepped up, people may have died!"

"She might have died herself." Kitora shot back haughtily. "The decision was completely out of line, and she should suffer the consequences for disobeying the rules."

"Wait, stop, I can explain—!"

"Be quiet. You've already ruined the situation enough!"

My jaw audibly clicked shut, and Arashiyama frowned. "You don't need to go that far..."

"I—"

"Shut up." Her tone was more poisonous this time, and I wilted under her furious glare instantly. Kuga scowled at the visible decline of my attitude.

"We're only alive because of her. Would you have preferred that she left us to die, especially when you were so late to the party?"

' _What is he doing?! I didn't do anything, and now they're even more certain that I'm the damn C-rank!_ '

Kitora tilted her head to the side with a smirk. "Rule-breakers must be punished. Sure, she saved you all, but there was a chance she would have died. And once one-person gets the idea that they can break the rules as long as no one died, another person will surely try the same. She must be punished according to rules, to set an example for C-Rank agents, as well as to maintain Border discipline."

I sighed in irritation as Kuga scowled further. "Stop it." I hissed. "We can clear up the misconception lat—"

"There is no mistake here." Kitora interrupted icily. "You've violated the rules, and I'll be bringing you to Border to handle the consequences as soon as the school day is over. I will have the school call us if you attempt to escape before I arrive to escort you."

-0-

"Are you gonna go?"

I scowled, but we both knew it wasn't directed at him. "I've got no choice. I'll give them the Trigger as soon as possible, and tell them that their ' _rule-breaking agent_ ' is safe and sound, in the hospital, overconfident and ready for the damn consequences."

He pouted, obviously trying to lighten up the mood. "She wasn't very reasonable, was she?"

"She does have this ' _stuck-up_ ' air around her." I agreed reluctantly. "Apparently she's some kind of prodigy in combat, got to A-Rank in middle school apparently."

"A-… Rank?" He questioned.

"I presume the Border agents have a ranking of sorts, to separate privileges, status, and power level."

"That's exactly what it is." I nodded along with Replica's comment. "Border has rankings like Replica said. Don't know too much about it, but there's A-rank, the best of the best. B-rank, officials agents, but not as good as A-ranks, and C-ranks."

I scowled, trying to lean back, but wincing at a sharp pain came from my rib. "C-ranks are trainees. Can't use their Trigger outside of training, pretty much useless. That kid earlier wasn't supposed to be using it, he just got a little self-important and decided he was good enough to break the rules. Now I'm in trouble."

I turned to the side, giving him a light glare. "And Kuga, don't go snapping at Border agents. They'll get suspicious."

"I couldn't help it… that girl was so self-important…. I hate people like that who do nothing, yet act like they're all that."

I shrugged, slinging my bag over my shoulder. "Still, I didn't really help anyone with my actions… for as wrong the reasons were, the guy still did hold the Trion soldier off until the students could get away. The two of us were just there for clean-up duty."

"Say what? Don't you get that you were the one that saved them too?" He asked, staring at my suddenly dumbstruck expression.

"Wait, wha—"

"The Marmod was gonna crawl down and get everyone afterwards if you hadn't killed it there. Technically, you saved them too."

I took a long moment to think about that, before reaching over silently and patting him on the head.

"You're not all that bad, Kuga. Especially if you're wasting the time to try and comfort **_me_** , of all people."

He shot me a small grin. "You can call me Yuma if you want."

-0-

We began walking until the loud bustling of students at the front gate began to wash over the relatively peaceful silence Yuma and I had been immersed in.

"…? What's going on…?"

"May I take your picture?!" I heard someone yell from the crowd.

"Oh, sorry. That's not a good idea. Could you not?" I heard a familiar haughty voice respond from the crowd. "What a nuisance. It's not like I'm in the entertainment industry or anything…."

We pushed to the front of the crowd, and unlike what she said, there Kitora Ai was, posing as cameras snapped around in the crowd.

The two of us stood there, dumbstruck before Yuma broke the uncomfortable silence.

" ** _What's she doing….?_** "

"Oh!" She coughed into her hand with a slight blush on her cheeks. "I was waiting for you… Mikumo, was it? I'm Ai Kitora, Arashiyama squad, Border HQ." Her eyes sharpened, and sweat dripped down my forehead as everyone around stared at the three of us. "I'll accompany you to the base."

' _This is getting out of hand…_ ' I thought with dread as people in the crowd began to murmur in excitement.

-0-

"I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I didn't come to escort you, I came to ensure you didn't run away."

"I'm trying to tell you—"

"Be quiet. You don't seem to know where you stand, C-rank agent."

"There's been a mista—!"

"Honestly, you can't trust anyone that breaks the rules. Now, be silent until we reach the base, or you will suffer the consequences for speaking against an A-rank agent."

Sweat dripped down my forehead and I shared a long-suffering glance with Yuma.

' _What the hell does she have against me?!_ '

She turned to me after a few moments. "Mikumo. Just because you apparently saved people with your stunt… Don't let it get to your head. Our squad would've gotten control of the situation without you. You just happened to be closer to the scene, that's all!"

My shoulders dropped a bit and my feet began to drag, unknown to myself. ' _Yeah. That's… that's right. I didn't do anything. I was just in the way... like usual_.'

"Uh, no. I don't think so." Yuma bluntly stated, a hint of irritation in his voice. "I'm not trying to insult you, but you wouldn't have made it in time. At all."

I jolted in shock. ' _Is he defending… me?_ '

"What the—?! Where'd you come from?!"

"I've been here the whole time," Yuma responded, steel hidden in his voice.

"Why are you following us!?" She asked, aggravated as she stepped closer to him.

"I was here first. You're the one who's tagging along. I was at the school when the Neighbours came, people would have died if she'd waited for you. Maybe you should be more grateful for what Mori did."

'…. _Why is he defending me…? Kitora-san is aggravating, but she's right in saying that I was a burden_ …'

"Excuse me? Suffice to say that you can stay out of this. Like I said, she broke the rules. Maybe she should follow them if she wants gratitude."

"There was only one rule broken here, and it wasn't her that broke it. You should be thankful she decided to step in when she did, or else someone would have died today." Yuma shot back, eyes narrowing as his expression lost its usual glimmer of amusement.

"The only one who would have died today was her! A C-rank shouldn't have been flaunting a trainee Trigger, looking for recognition!" Kitora responded with anger in her voice.

"...You think Mori is your competition," Yuma observed.

' _Excuse me, what?!_ '

"Wha—?!"

"But there's no contest between you and Mori." Yuma casually continued, ignoring my shellshocked expression directed at the two of them.

"D-Don't be insane!" Kitora composed herself. "Why would I think of a C-rank as competition?!"

I tried to stop the conversation while I could. "Yuma, I think—"

"Shut it!" Kitora pointed a smouldering glare at me before redirecting her gaze to Yuma. "And remember this! A-rank agents are the top 5% of all Border agents, the cream of the crop!"

"Cream… of the crop…?"

I wanted to explain to Yuma that it was an expression, but a warning glare from Kitora made my jaw shut with an audible click.

"By the way, what was with the portals at the school in the first place? Mori told me that they're only supposed to form in the emergence area."

I inwardly nodded. ' _Good, a change of topic. I hope they don't get into another argument_.'

"I can't discuss this with outsiders." Kitora sniffed.

"I'm not an outsider, I'm a victim." Yuma calmly returned, eyes narrowed and chilly.

She sniffed scornfully. "Well, fine… since there's no way a C-rank agent like you would be trusted with this information, I'll tell you."

I tried to ignore the insult. I failed.

"We don't know the details yet, but abnormal gates are starting to open that the guidance beacon doesn't work on. The engineers at HQ are trying to figure it out."

"Abnormal gates…!" I whispered in horror, remembering the dread that had flooded me once I saw the gate outside of the school.

"Besides the one at your school… There have been six incidents of Neighbours appearing outside the emergence area since yesterday. Luckily, off-duty agents happened to be close by in every instance. There were casualties, but we don't know what could happen. To avoid mass panic, we haven't made it public… but right now, Neighbours could appear anywhere in town."

"…Maybe it's not something wrong with the beacon, but with the gates themselves…?" I suggested quietly, a bit more withdrawn than I usually am.

"Do you honestly think that you could find out the source of the issue?" She turned away with her arms crossed. "Don't make me laugh. The engineers are far better than you could ever be, they'll find out the issue soon enough. You should just stay out of it."

I heard a smaller warping noise from Yuma and turned over to see a small black blob speaking into Yuma's ears.

"I see… Kitora seems to be correct."

"Huh…?"

My steps faltered as a loud zapping noise was heard from behind me, and I swung my head around the moment I recognized it as the sound of a gate opening.

"Gee… What a crazy day." I heard Yuma mumble.

" ** _WARNING. WARNING. A GATE IS OPENING IN THE CITY. PLEASE EVACUATE AT ONCE. I REPEAT, A GATE IS OPENING. PLEASE EVACUATE AT ONCE_**."

-0-

"What…! What kind of Neighbour is this?!" Kitora yelled over the screams coming from the city. "I've never seen this type before!"

"Yuma, what is it?!" I hissed quietly, trying to not draw Kitora's attention.

"An Illgar! They're rare. An Illgar… is a type of Trion soldier used for bombing."

In the distance, as if it heard Yuma's comment, the city began to smoke as distant sounds indicated that something was exploding.

"The city!" Kitora yelled in worry. "We can't wait for a squad… I'll go!"

"It's pretty big and you've never seen it before, are you sure that you can take it on your own?!" I yelled back worriedly, eyes widened at the sight of the fire spreading around the city.

"Feh, I am an A-rank agent, you stay back here. Unlike you, C-rank, I can easily take down that Neighbour… by myself."

And without another word, she jumped off.

-0-

"There goes Kitora," Yuma commented as if talking about the weather. I wanted to give him a quick slap, but managed to refrain. "What are you gonna do, Mori?"

"I need to help the people in the town." I decided quickly.

"Whoa now. Your ribs are still… bruised? You're injured. Going around in a city that's being bombed is a dumb idea."

"I'm a moron." I shot back with a shaky smirk. "Besides, I'll be fine. I'll stay away from collapsing places, but with all the panic, kids are going to get separated from their families. I have to help people get to the shelters, I don't intend to do any heavy lifting."

He pursed his lips. "I still don't think it's a good idea… I should—"

"No." I cut him off immediately, jogging towards the city regardless of the slight pains running through my chest. "I need you to stay with Kitora."

He stared at me for a moment in stunned silence.

"….I'm sorry, what?"

' _Wow, he must really dislike her if he's acting like this…_ '

"She's never seen this type of Neighbour before. It might be more than she can handle alone, even if she's A-rank. If she gets in trouble… Help her out." I paused thoughtfully for a moment. "Without getting caught." I added quickly.

"Aww…" He pouted slightly. "She insisted on doing it by herself. Maybe we should just let her."

I sent him a pleading glance. "Yuma, please. People could die because she thought she could take on more than she could handle."

He stared at my pleading gaze for a moment, before sighing heavily.

" ** _Good grief. Something about you makes that hard to refuse_**."

"Wha—? What's that supposed to mean?!" I yelled indignantly.

Yuma ignored me. "Replica."

"Roger."

A blob of black separated off of Replica's body, creating a smaller, similar piece of himself.

"Take this with you, Mori, it is a part of me. You will be able to communicate to Yuma through me."

"Call me if you need it," Yuma said to me one last time.

"Got it." I nodded in response, and we took off in different directions.

-0-

"Mom! Mommy!"

A black haired child reached out to a woman trapped inside of a building, a chunk of rubble separating the door from the outside.

"Go with those people, honey! I'll be fine!"

"No! I wanna stay with you, mom!" The child sobbed, arms reaching out.

"Just do what I say!" The woman yelled in vain.

"Hey, c'mon."

A casual voice called out all of a sudden, and an arm looped around the child's shoulders and yanked them away from the door.

The child screamed in response, and the mother gasped as her child tumbled out of view.

"Honey—!"

Their voices abruptly cut off as a large chunk of stone fell from a higher level, crashing into where the child had been moments before.

The woman stared in silence at the empty space, just as I came into view, carrying her child.

"Ma'am, is this your kid?"

The lady nodded dumbstruck, as I set the child down.

"Could you and whoever's on the other side push on the stone?!"

I heard a cry of agreement muffled from the other side, and as soon as the stone shifted, I worked together with them to pull it out of the way.

The rock fell to the ground heavily, and the people tumbled out hurriedly.

"Thank you!"

"Now we can get out!"

"MOM!"

"You said you wouldn't do any heavy lifting." Replica reminded, tone blank, yet scolding.

"I changed my mind," I muttered embarrassedly. "I've got to help the trapped people—"

A sharp pain lashed out from my side, and I hissed in pain, hunched over slightly.

Replica watched silently from where I was, and the other people trapped that I had been running towards.

"Yuma."

There was a beat of silence before an orange symbol appeared behind me, originating from Replica's open mouth.

"Boost. Triple."

I stared in amazement at the symbol as Replica explained.

"I used Yuma's Trigger to reinforce your body. You will still feel pain if you shift your wounds, but you are now strong enough to lift the rubble without much effort."

"Thank Yuma for me a million times," I said with a slightly pained, yet wide grin directed at Replica. "And thanks to you too."

-0-

I hurriedly pointed in the direction of the shelters, screaming at the top of my lungs.

"C'MON, HURRY OVER TO THE SHELTERS!"

Anyone that had lagged behind to watch the destruction began to run, thankfully.

' _Yuma…!_ '

"Hey, are you a Border agent?!"

I whipped my head over to the side, a biting remark on my tongue about that damn organization.

The words abruptly died on my lips, however, as my eyes met those of a man, a younger girl unconscious beside him and his legs pinned painfully under the rubble as blood flowed out from the cracks in the rock.

"You… You're Border, right?! You'll save us—You'll save my daughter!? Right!? She's only in middle school, oh god, she's so young!"

My eyes widened and my throat choked up, his desperate gaze holding unflinching eye contact with mine.

"Please! You, you have to t-take her away from here, o-or else she'll die!"

Most of the others in the area had already evacuated, the three of us, bar Replica, were the only ones around.

"P-please… I beg of you… just— please save my daughter…"

His voice was choked with sadness, and tears dripped down his face like a waterfall. My legs gave way as I kneeled down to cradle the young girl in my arms.

"I'll get her out of here."

His face muscles relaxed immediately, and new tears flowed down his face as he reached out a hand to touch the girl's cheek, accidentally smearing blood on it.

"Oh thank god… I-I… oh god… I'm going to die. I r-really wish I could've been there to see y-you grow up."

My heart ached as his hand dropped, and the puddle of blood grew larger as the bright red smeared over my knees.

Replica watched in silence.

-0-

Kitora coughed, water dripping from her hair and clothing as she pulled herself out of the river that she and the Neighbour had abruptly crashed into.

' _What was that…? The Neighbour was yanked into the river…?!_ '

Her expression darkened as she stared at the ground.

' _It would have crashed into the city. Someone had to save me…? Even though I'm an A-rank_ …'

A loud cheering caught her attention as she looked down at where most of the evacuated civilians were gathered.

"Look! The Border agent saved another kid! She's bringing them right now!"

Kitora looked up at the call, and by the edge of the city, she could see Mikumo Mori carrying a small girl in her arms.

"She's coming over! We have to thank her, I thought we'd be buried alive!"

"She saved us!"

Kitora scoffed disdainfully. ' _While I was fighting… she was earning brownie points again. Goody-two-shoes. You want to be popular that badly?_ '

Mori handed the child off to an ambulance worker before her eyes caught Kitora's from afar.

"Oh."

To the astonishment of Kitora, the ' _goody-two-shoes_ ' pointed over to the A-rank and smiled (Wearily. Tiredly, sadly.).

"She's the one that took down the Neighbour, everyone. You can save your thanks for her, **_after all, she's A-rank_**."

The attention of the civilians swung around, and the began cheering loudly for the black haired girl.

"Is that true?!"

"Hey, that's Kitora Ai from Arashiyama squad!"

"Thanks! That's an A-rank for you!"

"She saved our lives!"

Kitora blinked in stunned confusion, staring at the civilians sending endless praise to her.

"See?" A voice yanked her out of her thoughts.

Yuma stepped up from behind her and looked downwards at Mori, who was speaking to the ambulance workers. "Told you so. it's no contest between you and Mori. She's beyond rules and ranks, unlike someone like you."

Kitora seemed stunned for a moment. "I'm sorry, but do you seem to have something against me?"

Yuma shut his eyes, an almost pleasant expression clouding over. "No, nothing like that… it's just that…"

His eyes opened just slightly and darkened although his pleasant grin didn't leave.

"Every time I look at you, it seems like I can't get Mori's expression out of my head."

His stare sharpened drastically. " ** _Her expression when you repeatedly called her 'useless', that is_**."

A shiver went down Kitora's spine, and she turned back to glance at Mori once again. She was silent for a few moments.

"I suppose…." She began. "She's no ordinary C-rank agent."

She began to walk away, and although she didn't understand it's meaning, still heard Yuma's last sentence.

"….Boy, she's in for a nasty surprise, isn't she?"

-0-

" ** _TRIGGER AUTHENTICATED. OPENING DIRECT ROUTE TO HQ_**."

The door opened with a small hiss of machinery, and Kitora pocketed her Trigger once more.

"Hm. So a person's Trigger is the key to the entrance." Yuma observed.

"Yes," Kitora replied, a bit more tense around Yuma than before. "Only Border agents are allowed inside."

I blinked confusedly. ' _Did something happen between them?_ '

Yuma waved to me leisurely. "Then this is as far as I go. Lemme know if anything happens, and don't forget to tell them about the mess-up."

I paused, feeling the mini Replica in my pocket. "…Okay. Stay out of trouble."

-0-

"Arashiyama squad, Kitora Ai, reporting," Kitora stated clearly as she knocked twice on the large doors. I stood nervously behind her, fingers clenched around the Trigger in my pocket.

"Come in." A stern voice commanded from within the room, and Kitora pushed open the doors.

There was a long conference table, six men seated around, one female seated beside the man with straight black hair, and one male teen standing straight behind the man at the very edge of the table.

"Kitora. Who is that…?" The man with straight black hair inquired politely.

"An over-confident C-rank." She stated haughtily, and I felt my eye twitch. "She violated the rules, and used her Trigger at the school where an abnormal gate had opened, at approximately noon today."

My eye twitched again, more violently this time. Judging by the facial expression of the female sitting at the table, it was not a subtle twitch like I hoped it was.

"As a clear violation of the rules, I have escorted her to HQ to be dealt an appropriate punishment."

"Can I have a moment to defend myself?" I asked, voice strained and loud enough to be heard by everyone in the room.

"Are you even listening?!" Kitora snapped at me again. "I've told you time and time again, as a C-rank, using your Trigger outside of training was against the rules, _and there's nothing that you can say that can bend the rules—!_ "

Well, the easiest way to put this, much to my embarrassment….

I snapped.

-0-

"As a clear violation of the rules, I have escorted her to HQ to be dealt an appropriate punishment."

The statement had surprised the people in the room, abrupt as the news was.

"Can I have a moment to defend myself?" The glasses wearing girl muttered, voice clearly strained.

"Are you even listening?!" Kitora snapped at her, unexpected for everyone in the room. "I've told you time and time again, as a C-rank, using your Trigger outside of training was against the rules, _and there's nothing that you can say that can bend the rules—!_ "

" ** _Pft_**."

There was a beat of silence, and Kitora finally recognized the sound the other girl had made as a snort.

"Wha—?!"

" ** _I really hope you're prepared for my next words, because you really have no one to blame for this mess other than yourself_**." Mikumo started darkly, eyes narrowing as she turned to glare icily at the A-Rank.

"—Excuse me?!" Kitora responded as cooly as she could manage, slightly unnerved at the sudden aggravation in Mikumo's voice. "What do I have to blame myself for? You're the one that broke the regulations regarding the use of Border's Triggers—!"

"Maybe the fact." Mikumo interrupted. "That you've been cutting me off from saying a damn thing since you saw the Trigger in my hands at the godforsaken school? _Maybe the fact that you've been an overconfident snob the entire time I've been near you?_ ** _MAYBE THE FACT—!_** "

Mikumo took a deep breath in and shoved the Trigger that had been in her pocket, into the conference table without breaking eye contact with Kitora.

" ** _—THAT I'M NOT A GODDAMN BORDER AGENT?!_** "


	2. Be my Escape

"EEK! JIN!"

Said brunette only flashed a carefree grin. "Sawamura-chan. Pretty as always."

"YOU'RE THE WORST! SEXUAL HARASSMENT IS A CRIME! YOU KNEW MY HANDS WERE FULL!"

"Now, now."

Jin took the box from her hands. "Here, I'll carry it for you. You're going upstairs too, aren't you?"

Sawamura Kyoko only shot the S-rank an irritated look before kicking his legs.

"Not good enough!"

"Ow! Ha ha ha."

-0-

"Yuichi Jin! Reporting as directed!" Jin called cheerily, raising his hand for a lazy salute. Rindou was the only one that gave him a wave from the back.

He turned around, observing everyone in the room.

All of the directors were tense and staring expectantly at Sawamura, Kitora was standing off to the side with the slightly embarrassed expression, Miwa was standing behind Kido, sending a glare over to Kitora, and there was a black haired girl sitting in the chair closest to him… and honestly?

She looked like she wanted to sink into the chair and disappear forever.

"…And you are?" Jin asked her politely, because _, manners_.

"Mikumo Mori." She mumbled dejectedly, not even raising her head to acknowledge him aside from her introduction.

"…We're all here. Let's get started." Kido began, sharp voice cutting through the silence. "Regarding counter-measures for the abnormal gates that have been opening around the city since yesterday."

"Wait a moment." Shinoda interrupted. "Sawamura, did you find what we asked you to look into?"

The woman sighed and took a seat beside him, plucking a file off of the box Jin had helped her carry to the room.

"It matches. From the school, an ambulance picked up one student, 'Rou Kobayashi', and with a quick check of our systems… He's confirmed to be one of our more recent C-rankers, dated back a few months. I also checked for Mikumo, just in case there were any holes in her story… and nothing, she's not even in the system. She'a undoubtably a civilian."

There was a drawn out silence in the room as they all sent glances towards the trainee Trigger sitting innocently in the middle of the table.

"She still used a Border Trigger without permission. There must be a punishment for that." Kitora protested weakly.

"Technically, we can't. No one else knows of the situation that occurred at the school, and she isn't an agent that we can punish." Netsuki muttered, before speaking louder so he could be heard easier. "She can only be given a fine according to the law… however, there is no concrete proof that she ' _stole_ ' a Border Trigger, with it back in our possession, and there are no surveillance camera's stationed by the school that weren't damaged. And with her being underage…?"

"There's technically nothing we can do in this scenario, other than a slap on the wrist and a warning," Kinuta added. "However, even with no one else aware, that doesn't change the fact that a civilian has used a Trigger without permission. As it is now, we're at a stalemate."

"I apologize," Mori muttered, only loud enough for Jin to hear. "I apologize for my worthless life, I apologize for my moronic actions, can we please just move on from this topic?"

"There is one option." Shinoda offered. "According to Arashiyama squad's reports… if she truly was the one that used the Trigger, than Mikumo defeated the Neighbours at the school single-handedly. She violated the rules, yes. But someone who can perform so well in an emergency is valuable."

"What are you trying to say?!" Kinuta demanded. "That we **_hire_** her? A troublemaker that steals our technology when it helps herself?!"

"It would be more beneficial," Shinoda argued. "We can punish the C-ranker currently in the hospital for his negligence in keeping his Trigger, as well as rushing into danger with a trainee Trigger. However, Mikumo has talent that would be a waste to ignore."

Kido's eyes sharpened. "There is some truth in what director Shinoda says. But… there is no place in my organization for someone who can't obey Border rules."

Shinoda stared at him with slight shock.

"Mikumo. If the same thing happened again, what would you do?"

Mori jumped at being suddenly addressed.

"Well… I think I… it depends on the situation, really."

"See, she hasn't learned anything from this conversation!" Kinuta yelled, irritated.

"Explain the 'situation' that it would have to be for you to go either way." Karasawa interjected.

Mori shrugged. "Before… at the school— I was under the impression that the abnormal gates were a mistake. Something that Border was not aware of, seeing as how none of the civilians were notified." Karasawa nodded along with the logic. "So, it would have been a situation… probably something closest to the large-scale invasion years ago. The people that can't defend themselves need all the help that they can get. That's the circumstances for when I would do it again."

Shinoda nodded. "The sudden abnormal gates has thrown the public into a panic. Especially considering that Border hadn't notified them beforehand."

I continued. "But now that I know you guys are working on it… I probably wouldn't use the Trigger again. As long as Border is aware of what's happening, it's likely a countermeasure is being created, and... I really don't have any business to stick my neck into that."

Kido stared at her for a moment, eyes narrowed.

"I see no fault in your logic, although there are more productive ways to spend your time than to steal a Trigger and run at a Neighbour, swinging around a weapon as if you're qualified to use it."

Mori dropped further into her seat.

"Moreover, moving onto the next matter. The abnormal gates."

Kinuta grimaced. "You don't need to remind me. The Trion barrier is blocking all gates for now… but it'll only last for 48 more hours. We have to figure it out before then…"

"I see, I see," Jin mumbled uncaringly, scrolling through something on his phone.

"So that's why you were summoned." Rindou grinned slightly. "Can you do it, Jin?"

Jin gave them a laid back smile, finally looking up from his device. " ** _Of course. I'm an elite agent, after all._** " Jin replied.

"You can?!" Kinuta and Netsuki yelled disbelievingly.

"Sure. We just need to find the cause, right? So that's why…"

Jin set a hand down on the shoulder of a blank-faced Mori.

"…I'd vote towards her joining Border too."

"Where'd that come from?!" Kinuta demanded, startled at the sudden change of topic. "What does she have to do with the abnormal gates?!"

"….Are you saying that she's involved in finding the source?" Kido interrupted calmly.

"Yes. That's what my side effect tells me."

Mori quirked an eyebrow behind her glasses confusedly. ' _Side effect...?_ '

Kido stared at Jin in silence, before nodding.

"Very well. It can be arranged."

"Commander Kido?!"

"Shinoda and Jin have valid points. There is a benefit in having her join the organization. We can enlist her—"

"Wait." Mori finally snapped out of her daze. " ** _I don't want to join_**. Don't I get a say in this?"

There was a beat of silence.

"You… You don't want to join Border…?" Shinoda asked confusedly.

"Why would I want to?" Mori responded, sounding just as confused as he was.

"Oh, I seem to recall…." Jin lifted up his phone for Mori to see. "… _A certain someone_ going around, calling themselves a Border agent in the city?"

The screen was showing a clip with a ruined city in the background, and the audio could be heard by everyone in the room.

 ** _"There was a girl in glasses that saved us. She was part of Border, wasn't she?"_**

 ** _"We were buried in rubble. A Border agent saved us… Yeah, the kid in glasses."_**

 ** _"She was awesome! Lifted up the rocks like it was nothing!"_**

 ** _"Many at the shelter claim to have been saved by a teenager in glasses, presumed to be from Border."_**

"I didn't mean for that to happen!" Mori snapped heatedly. "They were just assuming, and you guys should be happy that's what happened anyway! If it was seen that no Border agents were helping the civilians out during a crisis like this, people would have rioted!"

"Well, there's not much I can say to that!" Jin said casually with a chuckle, pocketing his phone despite the tension that had skyrocketed in the room.

"Anyways, I'm not planning on joining Border anytime soon!" She got back on topic. "I only used that Trigger once so that I could save your idiot C-ranker and myself, I don't wan—I'm not doing it again!"

Jin appeared to be smug. "Really~? 'Cause that's not what my side effect is telling me."

" _What the hell is a side effect?!_ " Mori hissed through clenched teeth, Jin aggravating personality already affecting her.

" ** _Jin_**." Kido interrupted. "If she has no intention to join, stop pestering people during a meeting."

He turned back to everyone sitting down, lifting a hand. "Dismissed. The next meeting will be tomorrow at 21:00."

Mori stood up and was about to leave the room after everyone else, but a voice caught her attention.

"Mikumo."

She turned warily, seeing Miwa, who had been standing beside Kitora. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Um. Sure."

"The large Neighbour destroyed in the emergence area yesterday. Was that C-ranker also there?"

" ** _Uh_** ," Mori repeated, mind flashing to the large Bamster as her ribs throbbed in response.

"The students we found there were classmates of both you and the C-rank." Miwa continued, unfazed by her lame response. "And there weren't any other agents around that were listed. It would make sense if the C-Rank had done it. Do you know?"

Mori fought to keep her expression calm.

"I… Yes. The two of us were there. He took it down."

Miwa waved a hand. "I see. Mystery solved. Thanks."

The door shut with a click.

-0-

"Commander. Let my squad keep an eye on Mikumo. I suspect Mikumo has made contact with a Neighbour."

"Oh? What do you mean?"

"The Marmod we recovered at the school today… was defeated with a Border Trigger. But the Bamster yesterday held evidence of a Trigger not belonging to Border. In other words, a Neighbour's Trigger."

"Hm… Why do you suspect her, instead of the C-rank?"

"During the conversation when she told us what happened at the school… She showed no sign that she was friends with the C-rank. In fact, she struggled to remember his name."

"Yet she claims the two of them were at the scene of the crime together… I see."

"We'll find proof. She'll slip up soon enough."

"Take care of it."

"And if a Neighbour is actually involved?"

"What else? **_Dispose of it_** _. Neighbours are our enemy_."

-0-

"In rare cases… People who have high Trion levels experience additional effect on the brain and the senses. This manifests as extra-sensory perception. Also called 'side effects'."

"I see," I mutter distractedly, staring at the mini-Replica hovering in front of me. "Like extreme senses… of sorts."

"Nothing supernatural like breathing fire or flying." Replica amended. "Merely extensions of human ability."

 _"Some p eople can hear things nearby insanely well. Or hear things far away." _Yuma added, a black blob branching off of Replica and making an expression that fit my white-haired friend better than the Trion soldier.

"Whoa… Jin seems so cocky because… he has some sort of overpowered side effect?" I said, leaking a bit of spite into my tone.

' _He seemed to know that I really did want to join Border, and basically told everyone. That made me mad, and his personality aggravated me_.'

 _"I'm not sure that side effects can be that amazing."_ Yuma corrected. _"You'll see him tomorrow, right? Ask him then."_

I heard I small ' _tink_ '-ing noise from Replica.

"Yuma, what's that sound? Where are you right now?"

 _"Right now? At school."_

"School?" I whispered tiredly. "Why this late?"

 _"Replica and I had an Idea about the abnormal gates... So I'm checking things out."_

"...Yuma, I'm coming over to keep you company."

I heard a startlingly loud clatter of rocks as if he dropped something before his strained voice came from the mini-Replica. _"_ ** _Please don't_** _."_

"Why not?" I asked confusedly, pausing in the slightly painful motion to get up.

"It's been a busy day for you. You should get as much rest as possible, and let your ribs rest for a bit." Replica interrupted.

"Really…?" I wondered. "…If you insist."

 _" **I insist**. You're such a daredevil when it comes to yourself, Mori."_

"...I'm…not the brightest…." I slurred at the end, eyes finally beginning to shut in exhaustion.

-0-

I shut the gate to my house tiredly.

' _I got more sleep last night than usual, but yesterday still tired me out more than usual… Ah, can't I just stay at home all day?_ '

"Hi, four-eyes."

I felt my eye twitch at the sound of Jin's voice, but I forced down a smart-ass remark. "Morning."

Jin was unfazed by my clipped response. "So, up ahead… there's someone that knows the cause of the abnormal gates."

"Someone you know?" I asked warily. ' _Border agents really are everywhere_.'

" **Nope. Not at all**."

"Wha—?!"

"But I think you know him."

"Me…?" I murmured back, just as we reached a sign and a fence of barbed wire.

' _Emergence area…? This is where…_ '

"Oh."

-0-

We walked for a few minutes, before reaching a shattered area of bricks and tiles, a familiar white-haired teen kneeling by the crater.

"Hm?"

"Hi, Yuma." I greeted pleasantly.

"Oh! So you do know him!" Jin said with a smile.

Yuma nodded to me. "Hey, Mori. And… you are?"

"I'm Yuichi jin! Nice to meet you!"

"You must be the famous Jin," Yuma responded with a carefree smile. "You've aggravated my friend a great deal."

"You're puny!" Jin ignored Yuma's last comment. "How old are you?"

"I'm Yuma Kuga. I may be short, but I'm fifteen."

"Yuma, you said?" Jin's eyes widened. "Did you…. come from the **_other side_**?"

My eyes widened, and my hand twitched violently.

"Now hold on. Don't take it the wrong way." Jin stuck out an arm. "I'm not trying to trap you. I've been there multiple times… I know there are good guys among the Neighbours. My side effect tells me so… that's why I brought it up."

Yuma made an inquiring noise, while I stared at him in confusion. "What _is_ your side effect?"

"I can see the future of the person I'm looking at," Jin replied bluntly. "Just a little bit of it."

"The future…? Isn't that too overpowered?!" I asked disbelievingly.

"When I saw you yesterday… I saw you meeting someone here today. And that this someone would tell us the mystery behind the abnormal gates. It's probably this guy." He ruffled Yuma's fluffy hair.

"…So, did you find the cause, Yuma?" I asked him tiredly.

Yuma nodded. "Yeah, just now." He lifted a comparatively smaller, bug-like Trion soldier. "There are the culprits."

"What the heck is that thing?! _What kind of Trion soldier_ —?!"

"Allow me to explain." Replica interrupted, before forming out of Yuma's ring. "Nice to meet you, Jin. I'm Replica. Yuma's chaperone."

"Whoa, nice to meet you."

"This Trion soldier is a Rad, a small reconnaissance drone. It's been modified with a gate generator. They must have been stored in the Bamster's abdomen… we examined the recent scenes of attack, then dug up one and analyzed its program." Yuma shook the Rad for emphasis. "They operate from the Bamster and hide underground. When everyone's gone, the go on the move and spread out. They gravitate to areas where there are lots of people, gathering Trion a little at a time from the passerby until there's enough to form a gate. These gates often opened near Border agents… because they had more Trion to give."

"So…. if we just get rid of them all…?" I trailed off.

"Yeah, no. _That's gonna be rough_." Yuma said with a lax expression, although his voice was strained and a bead of sweat was going down his cheek at the thought of the effort it would take.

"Rads can't attack, but… there are many. We've detected many around the city. It will take, minimum, a few weeks to clear them all out." Replica added emotionlessly.

"Oh jeez…!" I muttered, pushing my glasses up to massage my temple.

Jin plucked the Rad from Yuma's hands with a smile. "This is a big help. Border can take care of the rest."

-0-

Replica hovered in the air for a few more moments.

"The readings are all gone. That should be the last of the Rads."

Jin pressed a hand to the communicator in his ear with a grin. **_"All right, mission complete! Good job everyone. Well done!"_**

"So there shouldn't be any more abnormal gates?" I asked tiredly, eyes struggling to stay open as I stood beside Yuma and Jin.

"Yup, back to normal operations starting today." Jin stretched out his arm behind his back and yawned loudly.

"I didn't think we'd make it in time." Yuma bent over the bag of dead Rads. "Having so much manpower is awesome."

"What are you saying? We made it thanks to you and professor Replica." Jin ruffled Yuma's hair again. "Shame you're not a Border agent, you'd get a medal."

"Eh? Then… give it to Mori. Or something, I don't know how this works."

I blinked blearily at his outstretched finger pointed at me.

" _What_?"

"Oh, good idea. Maybe we could convince Netsuki-san and Kinuta-san to brush the ' _unauthorized Trigger use_ ' issue under the carpet then, even if she doesn't want to formally receive a medal. Plus, they'd let her join without nearly as much complaining from them."

" ** _What_**?" I repeated tiredly. "I don't want a medal from Border. And I didn't do anything!"

"You were a key figure for me to meet Kuga and professor Replica."

"That's a stretch." I bluntly shot back. "I don't want a medal. I don't want to join Border. I don't want it."

"Are you sure about that, four eyes?" Jin said slyly, a hint of knowingness in his eyes that made my skin crawl.

"After all, isn't there still a part of you that wants to join Border…. For someone else's sake?"

The discord and echoing of denial in my head cut off and dived into a conflicted silence.

-0-

 ** _"I want to join... so that I can protect her no matter what, and to fulfil my dream. But... I can't."_**

 ** _A sob._**

 ** _"I can't stand to leave her alone if there's even a moment... when I can't protect myself. I don't want to be the next person to make her cry, no matter what."_**

-0-

A small girl glanced around uncertainly, the clock on her phone reading as ' _10:41_ '.

'... _I guess I got here too early_ …'

A loud ' _CRASH_ ' echoed from behind her, causing her to jump frightfully and let out a small yelp, before turning around slowly.

Yuma had fallen face first, a bike tipped over not too far from him.

"Hm… A tough adversary…"

The girl stepped over, voice shaking slightly. "A-are you ok?"

"Hm? Fine. Totally fine." Yuma reassured, brushing the dust off of his sweater. "I'm not hurt."

' _He's about my height_ …' The girl thought. ' _He must be in grade school_.'

"Are you learning how to ride a bike?" She asked.

"I'm waiting for a friend," Yuma added pleasantly. "So just trying to kill the time."

"Oh yeah? I'm waiting for a friend too."

"What a coincidence. Say…. can you ride a bike?" Yuma asked.

"Huh? Yeah…"

" ** _You hot-shot_** …" Yuma mumbled, and for a moment, it was as if there was a sparkle beside his eye.

She rubbed the back of her neck with a small blush. "You think so?"

"I just can't figure out… How anyone can ride straight on this thing that looks so unstable. Turns out there's no gimmick after all! The shocking truth comes out…!" Yuma glanced down at the vehicle held up by his hands. "How do you ride it without falling over…? Do Japanese people get special training on it?"

' _Is he from overseas…?_ '

A phone alarm rang out from the girl's bag, and she let out a small 'oh', before pulling it out and holding it up to her ear.

"Hello?….Yeah….Yeah."

Yuma could be seen riding in a wobbly line in the background.

"Okay, I'll wait….. See you."

He crashed down not even a moment later.

"Whoa! Are you ok?!"

"I'm fine."

-0-

"Ooh? WHOA!"

The girl began to push the bike from behind, both gloved hands clamped down on the back tire cover, as Yuma peddled as quickly as he could.

"Wow! I'm doing it! I'm actually riding a bike! AHA! I'm getting the hang of this! I'M— ** _GWAH_**!"

His excited words were cut off as the girl accidentally let go, and the bike tumbled and turned into the nearby river.

-0-

"That was close." Yuma twisted his sweater, wringing out his sweater as water dripped to the ground. "I just bought that bike and I almost lost it in the river. But I made progress. Thanks to you." He turned to her. "Um… What's your name?"

"I'm… Chika. Chika Amatori."

"Hi, Chika. I'm Yuma. Yuma Kuga."

The was a beat of silence as a figure wearing a scarf stepped up behind them.

"Ah, so you guys already introduced yourselves."

Chika and Yuma jumped, startled, as a familiar voice spoke out from behind them.

" ** _Mori_**!"

Mori rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Sorry, I'm late. Stayed up late last night, so I overslept."

"It's okay," Chika reassured quickly.

"You shouldn't do that," Yuma advised bluntly.

Mori shrugged. "Habit. Anyways... Yuma, I called you here to meet Chika, and 'cause I kind of need your help… if that's okay?"

"No problem." Yuma waved his hand dismissively. "Should I get Replica?"

Mori saw Chika twitch out if the corner of her eye, just before the latter's head swung around in the direction towards the emergence area.

"Maybe later," She replied nonchalantly as she clamped a hand down on Chika's shoulder, stopping her from running away as the Neighbour alarm rang out loudly, alerting everyone to the opening gate. "Let's just find a quiet spot to talk, for now."

Yuma quirked a brow at his friend's hand confusedly.

-0-

"So…. this is Chika Amatori. She's in eighth grade at our school. She's my former tutor's little sister."

"Nice to meet you…" Chika shyly greeted.

"This is Yuma Kuga, he transferred into my classroom recently. He grew up abroad, so he's new to Japan."

"Hi there." Yuma waved with a smile.

Chika jumped. "You're in the same grade as Mori? You're older than me? I'm sorry, I thought you were younger…"

"Age matters not." Yuma dismissed.

"Anyways." I coughed pointedly. "Chika has a tendency to… have Neighbours come after her."

"Chika... attracts Neighbours?"

I nodded along, keeping a comforting hand on Chika's back as she grew silent.

"It's been happening since she was very young, I wanted to know why... in case there's something I could do." I summarized.

"Um..." Chika softly interrupted. "Is... Yuma part of Border? Is that why you asked him?"

"Uh." Yuma and I tilted our hands in a vague side to side motion, myself noticeably more nervous than him. "He's a Neighbour expert. Of sorts."

" _Of sorts_." He placed a hand on his chin, expression quickly sobering up. "And there's only one reason that I can think of... and that'd be Trion."

"Trion? Is it _that_ important…?" I murmured worriedly, hand brushing silently against Chika's jacket.

"Yeah, since… Neighbours that come over to this world are… generally after Trion." Yuma faced us, eyes focusing on me for a moment before he looked back at Chika. "People with high Trion levels are captured alive. If people with low levels are captured… only their Trion glands are harvested." He motioned side to side with both hands, fingers curled as if he was holding something. "These soldiers and the Trion from here are used in the war over there."

My eyes narrowed. "Since there's a war over there, there's probably more people over here to kidnap, huh….?"

"Exactly." He sent me a serious glance. "Neighbours want people with higher Trion. If they keep coming after Chika… she must have an awful lot of Trion."

"…Trion?" Chika tilted her head confusedly.

"It's something everyone has, like a special power, that can be used to power Border and Neighbour technology." I filled in for Chika.

Yuma lifted his ring. "Should we measure it? Replica?" Replica formed from the ring, a black blob forming his shape.

"Might as well. Then we will know for certain."

"Whoa!" Chika instinctively moved back a bit.

"Nice to meet you, Chika." Replica greeted pleasantly. "My name is Replica. I am Yuma's chaperone."

"N-nice to meet you."

"Hi, Replica." I waved to him with a slightly tired smile.

"Hello, Mori." Replica opened his mouth and something that appeared a grip formed at the tip of his tongue. "This Gauge can measure your Trion."

"Go ahead." Yuma offered reassuringly, holding out the wire.

Chika's shoulders tensed. "O-okay… I'm a little scared…"

I stepped in front of her, gripping the gauge with no hesitation and a slightly bored expression.

"I'll go first, I guess. I'm kind of curious myself."

"Roger."

There was a tense moment when Yuma sent me a glance I couldn't decipher, and Replica paused.

"Measurement complete."

A cube that radiated light appeared from above Replica's head, the size making me step back in surprise.

"Whoa!"

"Oh!" Yuma stared at the cube with a hand on his chin. "This actually isn't bad! It'd have to be… just a little bigger for Neighbours to come after you."

"I don't want that." I deadpanned to Yuma.

"It's also big enough to have a side effect. Huh, that's pretty cool, Mori." He continued, unperturbed.

'… _Side effect…?_ '

I shook my head before holding out the gauge to Chika. "You can have them measure you, it's all right. There's no reason to be scared, Yuma and Replica are good people."

Chika reached out with a notably less shaky hand and offered me a small smile. "Okay… if you say so."

"It might take some time. Would you like to take a seat?" Replica advised politely.

Chika nodded, and the two of them moved to sit down on a nearby bench.

Yuma on the other hand, turned to me with a smug grin as soon as they were out of range.

"You seem _awfully_ protective of her."

I felt warmth rise up to my ears, and I let my fist drop down on his head with a quiet 'thud'. "Shut it. She's only my former tutor's sister, that's how I know her."

"Hm. Ok." He replied, clearly not believing me. "But… if Neighbours are coming after her, why not get the help of Border?"

I hesitated. "….Well…. Chika… doesn't want others involved." I settled for the short answer.

"Hm?" Yuma silently asked for elaboration.

"She'd rather…" I coughed. "She'd rather run away from the Neighbours by herself. I guess it's hard to understand, even for me."

"Hm…" He neither shrugged, nodded, nor shook his head. "But it's okay for me to get involved?"

"You're a Neighbour, and I'm technically covering for you." I poked him in the middle of his forehead. "So if you get into danger, it's all on me."

He frowned at my response. "Fine. But I'm surprised she can keep avoiding them, without a Trigger even."

My thoughts wandered again. "She can tell when danger is nearby. I was sceptical at first… but now, I'm pretty sure it's a side effect."

"You'd be correct." He nodded. "But about Jin… he said you still wanted to join Border. Is it because of her?"

"...Maybe at first, that's what I wanted." I muttered, just loud enough for him to hear. "But right after I took the test... I pulled out. If I died, Chika would be all alone... I don't think she could take that." I paused, audibly gulping. "I can't join Border. I can't risk dying, as conceited as it sounds from me."

Yuma stayed silent, and for a brief moment, I was afraid I had come off as a coward and lost all chance of having someone that considered me an equal, a friend.

"There's nothing wrong with that." He finally murmured to me, and the rush of relief I felt flow through my veins was immeasurable. "Nothing wrong with that at all."

-0-

"Measurement complete." Replica stated, voice cutting through the silence like a knife.

I stepped closer to get closer to them before faltering with a startled squawk as a glowing Trion cube appeared in front of me and above Replica's head.

"Whoa…!"

Even Yuma seemed surprised, as the representation of Chika's Trion loomed over us menacingly. "It's huge!"

"That's…. around 5 times bigger than mine! No, maybe even more!" I gawked, having troubles shutting my jaw.

"Quite extraordinary. I don't recall seeing many such Trion glands. You have great aptitude." Replica commented, sucking the gauge back into his mouth.

Yuma laughed nervously. "Wow. _No wonder they're after you._ "

I kicked him in the back of the knees. "Shut it! We need to find out how to prevent that, no time to be impressed!"

He bent over, clutching his legs dramatically. "How cruel. And didn't you also compare it to your own, now quite puny amount of tri—"

" **Shut. _It_**." I hissed viciously. "We have to—"

"The most practical solution," Replica interrupted in an exasperatedly fond tone. "Is to ask Border for help."

"But Chika doesn't want that, right?" Yuma commented shortly.

"No…" Chika shook her head and stared at the ground sadly. "I don't want other people to get hurt. I've escaped on my own so far… I'm sure I can keep doing it."

She glanced up at me with an expression full of forced hope, and my heart shattered as her violet eyes stared at my own.

'… _I'm useless, again. I can't do a damn thing_.'

I shut my eyes in frustration, just as Yuma twitched and glanced over to the side.

" ** _Don't move. We're Border agents_**."

The sharp voice cut through the air like paper, and my eyes snapped open and my head swung to the side.

There he was, striding towards us leisurely with a teammate beside him, and a phone held up to his ear.

The agent standing beside Border Commander Kido.

"It's certain. We caught them in the act."

' _Miwa Shuji_.'

My pulse rushed through my ears.

"That's a Trigger outside of Border management. We've confirmed contact with a Neighbour. We'll begin processing."

' _Yuma_.' I thought bleakly as my breath came in short. ' _Replica_.'

" **Trigger…. _on_**."

-0-

"So…" Miwa's teammate began. "Which one's the Neighbour?"

' _They saw Replica…!_ ' I positioned myself in front of both Yuma and Chika, shielding them with my body.

"The one using the Trigger…. **was the girl** ," Miwa answered darkly.

' ** _What_**.' My thoughts cut off. ' _Chika— no, Chika's not a Neighbour! Shit, this is all my fault, I should've brought them to a safer area—!_ '

"Huh…?" Chika made a distressed noise, and I instinctively moved closer to her and hid more of her behind me.

"My first humanoid Neighbour, a girl? Kinda ruins the fun."

"Don't let your guard down. No matter what they look like… **_Neighbours are humanity's enemy_**." Miwa warned his teammate.

I grit my teeth. ' _Shit, shit, shit, this entire situation is just absolute shit—!_ '

"No, You guys have got it wrong." Yuma's voice cut through the air protectively. " ** _I'm the Neighbour_**."

A shocked, tense silence blanketed over the train station as I glanced at Yuma warily. '… _Yuma…?_ '

"A Neighbour?" I heard Chika softly mutter but didn't dwell on it as Miwa spoke again.

"You're the Neighbour….?"

"Yeah," Yuma confirmed.

"Are you sure about that?"

"I'm sure," Yuma said with a tone of finality, and Miwa raised his gun.

Several ' _blam's_ ' of bullets hitting something rung out in the air, as Yuma fell backwards from the impact as my eyes widened.

'… _I could see it…?! 3 bullets, I saw Yuma put a shield up too! I don't think that normal humans are supposed to see bullets move, no matter what universe we live in!_ '

"Hey now. What if I happened to be a civilian?" Yuma asked nonchalantly, moving his shield to the side as if to flaunt to Miwa and his teammate.

"Really, Yuma?" I mutter exasperatedly.

"Whoa!" Mina's teammate gaped. "Blocked at this range?!"

Yuma casually brushed the dust off of his pants and stood up. "Say. There's a Border agent called Jin right? I kinda know him. Can you ask him about me?"

I stayed silent, keeping Chika behind me as I watched the interaction.

"…Jin, _you say?_ "

Miwa glared darkly off to the side, the sheer anger and hate sending a shiver up my spine.

"I knew he was involved in this… **Those _traitors_ at the Tamakoma Branch…!**"

"Traitors…?!" I whispered confusedly, trying to push down the stress of the moment finally getting to me.

"Leave, Mikumo. We're under Commander Kido's orders. If you interfere, we'll have to remove you."

Miwa's teammate sent him an unsure glance for that statement, and it took me a few seconds to realize why.

' _Is he…. allowed to do that…? I'm a civilian here..!_ '

His dark glare made me feel as if he didn't care if I was part of Border or not, so I grabbed Chika by the shoulders and started to guide her off to the side.

"Let's not get mixed up in this…."

Yuma pouted, turning his head to blatantly disregard Miwa, much to the agent's ire. "Aw, not even going to offer any help? A few tips, a ranking for these guys? Give Replica back, maybe?"

I shrugged, playfully nudging Replica to follow us. "I told you not to get caught, and that's what you did. No help can be offered from over here… _especially not when I'm injured_."

"Oh, come on, _you spent an hour lifting rocks when it was_ ** _WAY_** **_worse_** _—_ "

He was cut off as his head swung backwards, a bullet grazing the edges of his hair.

"—Whoa, rude." Yuma turned back to me nonchalantly. "But anyways, thanks for staying back, Mori. They have business with me, after all. I can deal with them myself."

He waved a hand to Chika nervously from behind me, expression apologetic. "Sorry, Chika. Didn't mean to get you involved."

She sat down where I led her, staring at Yuma, shocked.

"Wow, he looks tough! Shuji, lemme fight him one-on-one!" Miwa's teammate said excitedly, already leaning forward in preparation.

"Knock it off. This isn't a game." Miwa scolded. "If the two of us fight him, he'll be taken down for sure."

Yuma's eyes darkened, the way they would whenever someone was telling a lie, and he smirked. "' _The two of us_ '…? Well, that's a stupid lie."

My breath hitched slightly.

' _Of course, there are more of them, you moron! Squads come in three's or four's, there's probably a sniper hiding somewhere around here!_ '

Miwa's teammate whistled. "Dang… He's no run-of-the-mill twerp. I guess **_everyone_** … has to watch out for you."

My eyes twitched violently towards his weapon, as his hands moved and thrust the spear right towards Yuma's face, who had moved to the side.

' _I could see it again…?_ '

Yuma took a small step, posture lax. "That surprise attack lacked surprise."

My eyes caught a small slit near his neck, and I gasped.

"Your neck—!"

My voice cut off as the cut opened noticeably, finally becoming visible to everyone else as Trion gushed from the wound. Yuma's hand came up to clamp around the cut, and his eyes widened.

The spear guy sent me a clipped glance but looked back to Yuma quick enough that I thought I imagined it.

"Aw, too shallow. Going for the neck right off the bat was too ambitious. I guess I should go for the legs first."

Yuma tiled his head to the side questioningly. "How did you do that…?"

I tried to loosen my tense grip on Chika's shoulders, my panic won't solving anything.

' _If you can't help, why don't you get someone that can?_ '

I snapped my phone out.

-0-

" _Hello_?" Jin's voice rung out pleasantly. "Elite agent Jin speaking. What's up, four-eyes?"

 **"Jin."** Mori tensely greeted over the phone. **"Yuma's being attacked by Border agents. Call them off, ' _elite agent_ ' Jin."**

He chuckled, tone relaxed. "I can see you guys. Miwa squad, right?"

 **"... _You knew this was going to happen_."** It was a statement rather than a question, and Jin grinned lightly at the aggravated tone.

"Don't worry about it too much, four-eyes, you should watch. Miwa squad is good, but…. they won't be able to beat him. _Yuma is really something special_."

-0-

"Just like I said, right?"

Mori's eye twitched violently, and Chika gazed at her with worried eyes as she turned to the three that had joined the group standing by the train tracks.

" _Jin_." Her voice was icy, and yet he only laughed cheerfully.

"I met up with professor Replica on the rooftop, so I came on down."

Jin glanced to Chika with a small grin but faltered slightly when Mori's glare intensified tenfold.

"Hello."

Chika nodded, confused and wary. "H-huh? N-nice to meet you."

Jin turned back to the direction of the fight with his hand held above his eyes. "What the heck, Yuma? You're in sorry shape."

Mori's glare turned back to Jin, and a shiver went down his spine. "Maybe this could've all been avoided if you didn't insist on being a manipulative asshole."

Jin ignored her statement with a bead of sweat dripping down his temple. "You get careless..?"

Yuma shook his head amusedly. "No. They were pretty tough."

"He got you good, huh…?" Kodera mumbled, and Yoneya covered his face with his free hand.

"Ugh, so embarrassing."

Jin looked to Miwa. "See, Shuji? I told you not to do this."

Miwa grit his teeth angrily. "Did you come just to mock us?!"

"No. You see, it makes sense that he trashed you. After all, his Trigger…"

Jin stepped up and placed a hand on Jin's head.

" ** _…Is a black Trigger_**."

Mina's eyes widened in shock, and Yoneya gaped from where he was lying on the ground. "For real?!"

Mori stared questioningly at Yuma's ring. ' _A… black Trigger?_ '

"You guys pretty well, considering. Even if he wasn't trying to kill you. No wonder you guys are A-rank." Jin casually stated, voice not wavering from the lax tone.

"Replica… what's a black Trigger?" Mori whispered confusedly.

"Hm. A black Trigger is a special Trigger created by someone with high Trion levels… to be left as a legacy after their death. A black Trigger is created when someone pours their life and entire Trion reserve into something." Replica paused for a moment as if remembering something. "It reflects the person's personality, therefore, a drawback is that it can only be activated by a compatible user. But it is far more powerful than a normal Trigger."

' ** _"This is my dad's_ Trigger _. My late dad"_** _...So that's what he meant…_ '

"We're having problems with regular Neighbours as it is. We don't need a black Trigger as our enemy too." Jin continued. "There's nothing to gain from hounding this kid. Go back and tell that to Kido-san."

Narasaka paused for a moment before pointing at Yuma calmly. "What guarantee do we have that the black Trigger isn't allied with the Neighbours that attack the city?"

Mori seethed silently in anger, her expression darkening only enough for Chika to see.

' _You all are heartless assholes—!_ '

" **I guarantee it,** " Jin stated certainly. " ** _I'd stake my job and life savings on it._** "

The confidence in his voice calmed Mori, and she silently gained a bit of respect for him.

' _Only a little_.' She grumbled in her mind, still slightly bitter about him letting Miwa squad attack Yuma.

" _'Nothing to gain'_ …?! That's not what this is about!" Miwa's voice rose to a shout, causing Chika to take a frightened step back.

" ** _ALL NEIGHBOURS… ARE OUR ENEMIES!_** "

A flash of light, a crackle of Trion, and Miwa was gone.

-0-

"Whoa, he flew," Yuma observed.

" _'Bail out'_. Border agent Triggers…automatically return to base when the agent's Trion body is destroyed." Jin explained, the two of them staring upwards where the flash has disappeared off to.

"So agents can escape even when they lose." Yuma summarized. "That's useful."

Yoneya cancelled his Trion body from where he was lying down. "Man, I lost! And he wasn't even trying?" He fell backwards with a dramatic ' _bleah_ '. "Do what you want! I tried to kill you, I can't complain if you kill me."

"It's okay. You probably can't kill me anyway." Yuma bluntly stated.

"Seriously?! Okay, that was harsh!" Yoneya sat up suddenly. "Let's duke it out next time—not for work or anything. Just one-on-one!"

Yuma hummed thoughtfully. "Don't you hate Neighbours?"

"Nothing bad's happened to me because of them," Yoneya commented. "So I don't have a grudge or anything, but… The other two had their houses destroyed. They gotta resent Neighbours. As for Shuji, who just flew off…"

Yoneya slid off of the platform he was sitting on. " _Neighbours killed his older sister. He'll probably never forgive them for it._ "

"…I see." Yuma mumbled.

" **Youske, we're leaving!** "

"I hear ya'." He called back, starting to walk towards them, before waving to Yuma. "See ya! Don't go easy on me next time!"

Yuma nodded absentmindedly while deactivating his Trigger.

"Now then… Miwa squad will make a biased report. I better go back to base and give mine too." Jin rubbed the back of his neck.

"Alright... I should take Chika home—"

" _About that_." Jin cut off Mori. "So, since you were hiding Yuma from them, they'll probably try to punish you or something. You should just come with me right now so you can defend yourself."

Her eye twitched violently, and Chika worriedly stared up at her before gripping her hand.

Much to Jin and Yuma's surprise, Mori's tense form relaxed instantaneously, and she gave Chika a small, warm smile.

"Alright, I guess I'm kind of busy… Here, Yuma can stay with you until we're done."

" _I can?_ " Yuma muttered questioningly, and Mori ignored him.

"Yuma's also really clueless when it comes to Japanese traditions. I need you to look after him, or he'll get lost and cause trouble. Are you alright with that?"

Chika nodded with a small smile to her, the two of them ignoring the grumbling Yuma and snickering Jin in the background.

"Okay you two," Mori gave the two of them one last pat on the head before turning to face Jin without breaking contact with them. "See you guys later."

-0-

" ** _I see… thank you for your report._** "

Kido's blank stare drilled into my skull, and I cried a little on the inside.

Kinuta shook his head at me. "Good grief, you're a real troublemaker, aren't you?"

Netsuki rested his hand against his temple. " _A black Trigger_ … why were you hiding something that important? This is going to reflect poorly on Border."

"I didn't even know what a black Trigger was until half an hour ago." I weakly protested, fighting to keep my voice from wavering.

"Mikumo is correct, we don't inform the civilians about anything like this, she's not completely in the wrong here. Also, according to Jin, Mikumo has kept this black Trigger under control up to now." Shinoda defended me.

"Still, she was hiding a Neighbour! She could have mentioned this the last time she was here!" Kinuta yelled.

Jin raised a hand carefully. "Now, now. Let's think about this another way…. _what if the black Trigger can be our ally?_ " He proposed.

Honestly, I was completely content with letting him talk everything out.

Jin continued. "Four-eyes has gained this Neighbour's trust. She can pull the Neighbour to our side. We'll gain awesome firepower without having to fight for it."

Netsuki frowned. "Mikumo isn't part of Border. Having her bring him over here would be too suspicious, and it'd put her in harm's way if the situation were to get violent. It's too unlikely to work."

I kept may mouth shut. ' _Yuma would never hurt me_.'

"About that, what about the issue from last time?" Netsuki added after a long pause. "The press is getting upset about a C-rank going to the hospital despite the ' _no-Triggers_ ' rule for C-ranks, and the longer I withhold the details, the messier the situation will get. Mikumo also deserves a punishment, although there are few ways to get through that matter without any legal issues."

"Didn't we discuss her joining Border last time…?" Rindou mumbled distractedly.

Kinuta shrugged. "She refused."

"And then there was what Jin said afterwards..." Shinoda glanced at the two of us, and I seethed at Jin in my mind.

' _Did he need to basically tell them that I want to join Border with his damn side effect last time?!_ '

"It would be simpler if she joined…" Netsuki commented. "We could fire the C-Rank for using their Trigger, and it'd be possible to give her a proper punishment if she were an agent… and we'd get whatever... ' _talent_ ' Shinoda and Jin thought they recognized in her. It'd be a win-win situation."

' _Would it really though?_ '

"I think that can be cleared up at another date since Jin said that she'd join eventually," Rindou commented, and I gave Jin a frustrated kick underneath the table.

"So, about the Neighbour…" Kinuta trailed off.

Kido nodded. "The most efficient way to deal with the Neighbour… **_disposing of him and recovering the black Trigger_**."

My hand clenched harshly at the thought, but I kept my mouth shut.

"Hm… that would clean up the issue." Netsuki pondered, and I bit the inside of my lip in frustration. "Plus a black Trigger is too valuable to pass up."

"The top three A-rank squads are away. But surely we can manage is we can use everyone else." Kinuta suggested calmly as if it weren't the _death of my friend_ he was talking about. A fire was growing my chest at the topic, my eyes burning with rage.

"This is outrageous… It's thievery! And what about our defences in the meantime!?" Shinoda argued.

' _Yuma… he really doesn't matter at all to these people_.' I thought sickly, flashes of the boy running through my mind.

"There's no need to shuffle units around," Kido stated, voice clear and sharp in the conference room. "To capture a black Trigger… _we will use a black Trigger of our own._ ** _Jin_**."

I paled drastically.

" **I order you to capture that black Trigger**."

' _Jin… has a black Trigger…?!_ '

-0-

" ** _Ohh. Nice place!_** "

Chika rubbed the back of her head with a small blush. "You think so?"

Yuma took a glance around while Chika stepped over to the small shrine. "Nobody comes here, and it's convenient. I use it as a hideout sometimes, and Mori comes to keep me company when I get lonely."

"You have good taste. We can have lunch while we wait for her, huh?" Yuma lifted up the bag with an easygoing expression.

Chika nodded with a smile. "Okay."

"Yuma, you're… really a Neighbour, huh?"

" _Yeff_."

Yuma swallowed the burger in his mouth before continuing, more clearly this time. "But I have absolutely nothing to do with the ones that attack the city."

Chika nodded. "Yeah, Mori told me." She hesitated for a moment before opening her mouth again. "Um… I have a question…"

Yuma gave a hum of acknowledgement.

"You said people kidnapped are used in their wars. How do they get used exactly?"

Yuma put his food down. "Hm. Well… It depends which country they get taken to."

"Country…?"

"Yeah." Yuma looked at her, a bit more seriously. "There're lots of countries over there, each country with their own style of doing things. The Neighbours that come over here look similar, but they're all from different places. So it depends on that countries circumstances… ' _Are they winning, or losing?_ '…' _Can they afford the time to train new soldiers?_ '…' _Is their commander competent or not?_ '…The unique situation in each individual country affects everything." Yuma picked up his burger again. "People with high Trion are valuable there, so most of them should be well taken care of, as assets. **_They'd love you_**."

Chika gripped her drink. "You mean… the kidnapped people are alive over there?"

"I'd think so."

She looked down, relieved. "Okay… I see."

"What? Was someone you know kidnapped?" Yuma asked curiously.

Chika waved dismissively. "Not really… I was just wondering."

Yuma shut his eyes to hide the slight darkening that accompanied the use of his side effect as to not scare the girl. "Chika… **_That's a stupid lie_**."

She jumped. "Huh?"

" _You make me share, but you don't return the favour_." Yuma only sighed and shook his head. "Well, I can ask Mori later."

"What?! Wait, I'm sorry!" Chika took a deep breath and looked forward, slightly upwards from where she was sitting. "Um… You're right. I do know people who were kidnapped. My friend from elementary school, and my older brother." Her eyes grew sad. "It's my fault they were taken. I told them my secret, and got both of them involved."

Yuma nodded, opening his eyes again. "I see... That's why you don't want anyone's help. Not even Border's."

"Yeah... I'd just end up causing problems."

Yuma leaned back, stretching his arms out and backwards. "I sorta get how you feel. I got you and Mori involved today… Because I asked her to help me out, she might never get a chance to join Border. I'd feel bad if that happened."

Chika shook her head. "Don't worry. Mori-nee— Mori doesn't really get worried about things like that."

Chika raised both hands to cup them into vague square-like shapes around her eyes. " ** _'I did it because I wanted to. Don't get ahead of yourself'_** … I bet that's what she'd say."

" _Hm, that sounds just like her_." Yuma agreed solemnly, momentarily ignoring the slight slip-up.

"Mori was more worried about you than herself. Or rather… she seems to care about you a lot. Didn't you guys only meet not too long ago?" Chika asked curiously.

"She should get her priorities straightened out. And as for how long we've known each other… _It's been a week at most_." He threw the last of his burger into his mouth. "She gets attached really easily. On the day we met, she almost got beaten up because she was worried about me."

Yuma pause, a thought coming to mind. " ** _…She's like a mother hen._** "

"Isn't she?" Chika laughed lightly. "She's always been like that, caring too much about those close to her… I never understood why nobody likes her."

"Hm?" Yuma glanced at her. "What do you mean? I noticed no one really talks to her at school, and the group of boys pick on her cause _she gets in their way a lot_ , but she doesn't even have any friends outside of school?"

Chika shook her head sadly. "Ever since I remember… Mori's never really talked with others. She's blunt and comes off as harsh sometimes, she gets panicked and nervous at all the wrong times, and staying calm and composed when she shouldn't... and has troubles talking to strangers…." Chika glanced down at her hands folded in her lap. "She's only even had her family, me, and my brother. But now he's gone too, so she goes out of her way to hang out with me more often ever since."

Yuma was silent. "…Really?" He pursed his lips as Kitora's scoffing expression came to mind. "She's also kind of sensitive to insults."

"Sometimes." Chika agreed. "She doesn't like being underestimated… but it happens so often. Sometimes I wish I were in the same grade as her."

"To help her, huh?" Yuma asked rhetorically. "Speaking of help, she doesn't really need to help me. Or worry."

"Huh? But aren't Border agents coming after you?" Chika asked.

"Doesn't matter how many there are, if I fight for real…." Yuma fidgeted with the crumpled ball of wrapping in his hands. " **…There's nobody who can beat Replica and I**." He hesitated. "…. _Maybe_ … there might be one person."

Chika tilted her head questioningly. "The guy with sunglasses on his head…?"

"Jin… He's tough. I don't know if I can win against him until I try." Yuma glanced up at the sky.

"Then what if he comes after you?" Chika worriedly asked.

Yuma shook his head. " ** _Nah. That won't happen_**."

-0-

"So… why did you come to this world, Yuma?"

Yuma kicked up a few leaves. "My dad died."

"What? I-I'm sorry." Chika stuttered, startled by his apparent bluntness.

"It's okay," Yuma reassured quickly. "When I was little, my dad and I travelled to different countries. He died when I was eleven."

He paused for a moment, crossing his arms. " _'If I die, go to Japan. My friend is in an agency called Border'_. That's what he used to tell me, so I came here. My dad said Border… was supposed to be a bridge between our worlds. But when I got here, Mori started to protect me, telling me that Border hated Neighbours, and Neighbours are attacking people left and right. Totally different." He rested his fingers on his chin.

"Oh yeah?" Chika lifted her head. "What was your dad like?"

"He was weird." Yuma laughed. "Let's see… like, when I was six, he told me his _'three lessons'._ "

Yuma lifted his pointing finger. "One: **_'protect your own hide. Parents can't protect you forever, deal with thing's yourself. Use your head, train, do whatever you need to do. And if you can't handle something yourself, stay away from it. Use your imagination to avoid danger'_** _._ "

Chika appeared puzzled.

Yuma lifted his middle finger. "Two: **_'there's always more than one right answer, there are often many solutions. Sometimes there are none. Don't get hung up if you can only think of one'_**."

Finally, he raised one last finger, making it three total. "And… three: **_'parents aren't always right'_**."

Chika nearly fell forwards in surprise, and Yuma chuckled. "I know. _He was weird,_ right?"

Chika nodded wearily, and Yuma glanced up in thought. "Well, considering the way he was… I wasn't too surprised when the world wasn't at all like he told me. The issue is… whether his friend is still in Border…. _or not_."

-0-

"… _Why'd you make me come with you anyway?_ " I asked tensely.

Jin rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, seemingly carelessly. "Well, they did talk about you a bit. And they were talking about Yuma, figured you'd wanna be a part of that, huh?"

"I didn't say a damn thing anyway." I bit back. " ** _And they were only talking about how to kill him most efficiently_**." My tone was icy.

"Well, now you know what's coming." His expression melted into something more serious, and his hands reached out for mine. "Here, give me that."

He lifted up my hand, and there was a poisonous remark on the tip of my tongue that fizzled out as soon as I got a good glance at my hands.

I had them clenched so tightly that it broke the skin, and a small amount of blood was sluggishly dripping from the crescent shapes.

"See? You're too tense." He pulled out a roll of bandages from his pocket and began wrapping my hands. "No reason to start getting all mad, we have a clear view of what's in the future now."

I stared embarrassedly at my hands, miffed that I lost control of my emotions in front of him. "They're obviously not going to give up on this… black Triggers sound too valuable for them to do that."

" **Oh yeah, _no_**." He agreed bluntly, easy going smile sliding back into place as we began walking again. "Kido-san's faction hates Neighbours far too much to give up on it, but I've got an idea of how we're going to do this now."

"Faction?" I asked, trying to hide the curiosity from my voice.

"Yeah," He gestured meaninglessly in the air. "It's kind of obvious, but Border is split into three factions right now. Kido-san's ' _never forgive Neighbours'_ faction. Shinoda-san's ' _the town's peace is the most important_ ' faction. And…."

He pointed at himself. "' _The Neighbours can be good guys, so let's be friends_ ' faction, us in Tamakoma branch. Since we and Kido-san have opposite points of view… **_we don't get along very well_**."

I thought back to Miwa's poisonous glare. "…I see… So Yuma would be welcome with you guys?"

He nodded. "Well, Kido-san's faction is the biggest faction. So far, they've let us do as we please because we're so small. But if Yuma _does_ join forces with us… the balance of power will tip. They don't want that, so they'll probably try to take it first."

' _Black Triggers are that important…?!_ ' I saved that piece of information for later. "Jin-san—"

"Oh, there's a '- _san_ ' now!"

"—This might be a bit private for Yuma… but I don't think that Border can use Yuma's black Trigger." I said dully, and his eyes glanced over at me curiously. "Yuma told me… That it's his fathers. And… If it's **just** been him and his father for that long… there's a possibility that Yuma's Trigger will **only** accept him… or something."

He chuckled. "Good observation. For a civilian, you're pretty good at figuring this stuff out."

I set aside the ' _for a civilian_ ' part and took it as a compliment. "So…?"

"That might be what happens, it might not be." Jin tilted his head side to side. "If Yuma's father really was friends with Kido-san, Shinoda-san, and Rindou-san, than maybe he's more agreeable than you think. Besides, it's not always people that the person knew when they were alive…" His hand slid back to the Trigger in his belt. "…Sometimes, it's just people that they would have gotten along with _if they ever met_. Black Triggers are fickle like that, you know."

Sensing a tinge of sadness in the air, I dropped the conversation.

-0-

"There they are. It's Mori and Jin."

Jin waved casually at Yuma and Chika.

"Hey there!" Yuma waved back, and I buried my face into my scarf to stop anyone from seeing the small smile from seeing the two of them.

"Did you get chewed out, Mori?" Yuma asked curiously.

I shrugged. "They're still trying to figure out what to do from the last time I was a moron…" I hesitated, sending a quick glance to Chika that only Jin and Yuma caught. "But it _really_ hinges right now on if I join Border or not."

Yuma nodded. "I don't really get what the issue is, maybe you can explain it later."

" _Later_ ," I conceded. "But there's still the issue that Border will come after you. And did you two eat? I know neither of us had breakfast, **_you better have at least had lunch_**."

Yuma stood still for a moment, before turning to Chika with a smug grin. "You see? **Mother hen**."

Chika nodded sheepishly, and my mind blanks out. " _What_."

"Oh, yeah, I can see it." Jin nodded with a smirk.

" ** _WHAT_**."

"Anyways…." Jin turned away quickly. "Back to the black Trigger issue… I've thought it over, and I think the simplest way is best."

I gave him a curious expression, and he turned to the rest of us.

" **Yuma, want to join Border?** "

' _Too simple!_ ' I screamed in my head, feeling my jaw unhinge as I gaped openly.

"Me?!" Yuma exclaimed, for once appearing surprised.

"Yuma… can actually join Border?! Don't you need permission from HQ to do that?" I warily questioned.

"Maybe if he wants to be an official agent," Jin responded. "But for now, he can join our branch pretty easily. A bunch of us have been to the Neighbour's world, nobody will care if you're from there. Why don't you come to check it out at least?"

Yuma hummed thoughtfully.

"I'll come if Mori and Chika do too." He responded, much to my surprise.

Jin only grinned. "Then, let's go."

-0-

"Here we are." Jin walked us across a bridge towards a giant, slightly worn building that was suspended over the river. An unfamiliar Border logo was stamped on the front, right above the door. "Welcome… to Border's Tamakoma branch office."

I stared over the bridge in wonder, listening to the rushing water as it pushed up against the supports relentlessly.

"Whoa…!" Yuma stepped up from behind me, glancing over the edge as well.

"The facility was originally built to study the river, Border bought it and made it into a base. Nice, huh?" Jin explained, and the shred of amusement in his voice made me step away from the edge with a slight blush.

' _I got excited way too easily_.'

"The agents seem to be out," He commented, eyes flickering down to his phone. "But somebody should be here."

' _Are all of Jin's colleagues as laid-back as him?_ ' I thought absentmindedly with a dazed expression.

Jin swung the door open with a large grin. "Hello!"

Yuma, Chika, and I peeked out from behind Jin, before nearly face faulting.

A child sitting on a… dog? was waiting by the door, eyes staring judgingly at the four of us.

"Hey, Yotaro. Anyone here?" Jin greeted with such a fond smile on his face, I nearly did a double-take.

Yotaro only stared at the three of us, Me, Chika, and Yuma, before his eyes narrowed non-threateningly. "….Oh, some newbs?"

Jin chopped him on the head somewhat gently on the head, fond smile melting into something more easygoing. " ** _Mind your manners_**."

"Hey, Jin!"

We all turned our heads up, eyes catching the gaze of a spectacled girl carrying a box from the upper level. "Huh? What's this? Do we have actual visitors?" She asked sheepishly. "Uh-oh! Do we have snacks?! Hold on! Lemme check!" I saw her dash off, as her voice faded away from around corners.

-0-

The girl gave us an excited smile and gestured to the plates set down in front of us. "We only have dorayaki… _but this is the good stuff_ , Go on! I'm Shiori Usami, Nice to meet you!"

' _Is this the real life?_ ' I thought dazedly, nodding as an uncertain 'thanks' tumbled out of my mouth.

" _Thank you for sharing such a fine delicacy_ …" Yuma murmured, hands reaching out to grab the treat.

Before his hands could even touch it, Yotaro snuck his fingers around the pastry and lifted, starting to bring it towards himself.

"Hey, Yotaro! You already had yours!" Shiori scolded, pointing at him accusingly.

Yotaro only smirked. " ** _Oh, Shiori. One is never enough_**."

Yuma whacked him on top of his head, and I felt a shiver of dread go down my spine as the motion reminded me eerily of Jin.

"Sorry kiddo," Yuma said, non-apologetically. "But I'm intrigued by this… ' _dorayaki_ '."

"Aw… _my_ dorayaki…." Yotaro began to tear up, and for a moment I felt a rise of panic that always comes whenever a child is crying near me before it was quieted by a certain kind voice.

"You can have mine… if you'd like." Chika offered, holding out her plate with a soft smile.

' _Chika… you're an angel_ ….'

Apparently, Yotaro thought so too, because as he began to much on the red bean snack, he gazed at Chika with a small blush on his cheeks. "You're cute. _Let's get married_."

" ** _Aaaaaand that's where I draw the line_**." I cut in threateningly(No, it was not ' _over-protectively_ ' _no matter what Yuma says in the future_ ), looping an arm around Chika's shoulders and sliding my plate of dorayaki over to her subtly as I glared lightly at Yotaro.

"What?! But if she marries me, she can pet Raijinmaru's tummy! I swear, it feels nice!"

I didn't give up my glare, and Yuma and Chika shot each other a knowing glance behind my back that I didn't catch.

Yotaro walked over to the dog(?), finished the snack at last. "See. You tip him over—"

He pushed on Raijinmaru's side, before pausing as the animal gave no indication of budging.

"—Roll…"

He pushed harder this time before stepped away and panting from exertion.

"….She can pet him all she wants if she marries me." He finally mumbled pitifully to me.

" _Chika's not marrying anyone_ ," I said irritatedly, retracting my arm from around Chika's shoulder to cross them across my chest, and leaning back into my side of the couch.

Chika finally glanced down to see my plate of dorayaki in front of her, just as Yuma stood up with an amused expression and rolled Raijinmaru over with no effort.

I looked away pointedly as Chika turned to me with a curious expression, and she only gave me a thankful smile before turning to eat the snack.

"This place is… very different from HQ." I coughed embarrassedly.

"Well, we do only have ten people on staff, in total," Shiori commented casually, hands cupping a mug of tea as she stared at our group with a small smile. "But… **_We're a mighty bunch_**."

I tuned in more to this part, listening carefully as I sipped on my tea quietly.

"We only have three field agents besides Jin, but they're all A-rank. The Tamakoma branch is for the talented, elite few!"

' _All A-rank?!_ ' I fought to keep myself from spitting out any tea, before abandoning hope to do so and put down my cup.

"You wanna join?" She asked bluntly, facing me. " ** _Glasses Unite!_** "

"Um…." Chika raised her hand slightly. "I'm only asking because Jin brought it up, but… _have you gone to the other world_ , Miss Usami?"

Shiori nodded, suddenly less hyper and more kind as she responded to Chika. "I have, just once."

"Then… how do you decide who goes to the other side?"

I felt myself stiffen and sent a quick glance at Chika that she didn't see. ' _Does she want to... go to the Neighbourhood?_ '

"Well… There's a selection test among the A-rank agents. The whole team gets to go, so I was able to tag along."

Chika glanced down gloomily. "A-rank agents… wow, they must be amazing…"

"They are above the 400 C-rank and 100 B-rank people," Shiori commented offhandedly. "Of course they're exceptional."

'… _And all of the field agents here are at that level…_ ' I sent a quick glance down to my hands, before losing myself in my thoughts. '… _And for even a moment, I thought I could get to that level. Kitora's opinion wasn't baseless after all, I shouldn't even waste my time try_ —'

" **Hey, you three**." I felt a hand on the top of my head, as Jin's voice broke me out of my ( _admittedly self-deprecating_ ) thoughts.

"Call your parents, and spend the night." The hand on my head moved side to side wildly, messing up my hair. I gave a small grumble of protest but knew better than to waste my energy trying to stop him. "The people from HQ won't come after you here, plus there's plenty of room."

Jin's hand lifted up, and I sent him a small glare through my ruined bangs, although silently grateful for the distraction.

"Yuma, four eyes, come with me. Our boss wants to see you."

' _Me too?_ '

-0-

"Excuse me~" Jin's hand raised up for a lazy salute. "I brought them over."

"I see you came." Rindou nodded in greeting, fingers curled around a cigarette. "So you… are Kuga-san's son. _Nice to meet you_."

Yuma nodded back with a laid back expression. " ** _Likewise_**."

"Jin and Mikumo told me about you," Rindou explained. "We don't want to capture you, but tell me one thing. You came to see your dad's friend, right? Do you know their name?"

I looked at Yuma quickly.

"... **Soichi Mogami** … was the name of my dad's friend." Yuma finally answered.

Rindou jolted slightly, before pulling the cancer stick from his mouth and sighing heavily. "I see… so it _was_ Mogami-san…"

I sent a confused glance around the room that no one caught in their distraction, and Rindou pressed his cigarette into the ashtray.

"He was one of Border's founding members… Soichi Mogami was your dad's rival. _And… Jin's mentor_."

' _Why'd Rindou-san and Jin call me here for such a private conversation…?_ ' I thought uncomfortably, catching the use of past-tense.

Jin stepped up to the desk, before unlatching the Trigger from his belt and setting it down gently.

"Jin's black Trigger… **_is_ Mogami-san**."

Yuma and I jolted slightly. "Then he's…?" I muttered quietly.

"Mogami-san died 5 years ago," Rindou confirmed. "He left this behind."

Yuma stepped close, touching the Trigger with his ringed hand gently, eyes downcast. "I see… this Trigger…"

' _Yuma_ …'

"If he were alive, he would've shielded you from HQ. Kuga-san took care of me when I was a rookie… I'd like to repay that favour. If you join, I could openly protect you, and confront HQ's actions." He looked directly at Yuma. "What do you say…? _Will you join Tamakoma branch?_ "

Yuma glanced down in thought for a moment, before glancing up.

His eyes were resolute, determined, firm and unwavering.

" **Well** …"

-0-

"Why'd he refuse?" I asked quietly, lying back and staring at the ceiling blankly.

The mini Replica bobbed in the air beside me, silent for the moment.

"Mori… I should tell you. The real reason… why Yuma came to this world."

"Wasn't it to see Mogami-san?" I questioned. "Did he have a reason to _lie_ … or something?"

Replica paused meaningfully. "….Four years ago… Yuma and his father, Yugo… were fighting in the Neighbour wars. Yugo was old friends with that particular country's defensive commander. Out of appreciation for the things the commander had done in the part, Yugo and Yuma were helping out."

Replica floated down to rest on the pillow beside my head, as if wearily despite his lack of facial features to show emotions. "Things went well. Until the day… Yugo died. That day, he said, ' _Yuma. Keep out of the fighting for a while, and stay inside the fort_.' Yuma complied, but once the fighting began… the two of us had noticed that our side was losing, the other side had too many Trigger users. Yuma left the fort, but there was… a black Trigger user there. An assassin, hired by the other country."

There was a dark silence, and a pit had formed in my stomach out of heartache for my friend.

"…Yuma's life ended there."

I shut my eyes, trying to keep myself from tearing up.

"….Or… It should have. Yugo arrived not soon after and… He created a black Trigger to save Yuma. He sealed his dying body inside the Trigger, and created a new Trion body… to save Yuma's life. Yugo used every last bit of his power… crumbled into dust, and died."

"….Does Yuma blame himself?" I hoped that Replica would never tell a soul how badly my voice had cracked.

"…Behind closed doors and shut curtains." He replied cryptically. "The other leaders at the fort had planned to use Yuma and his black Trigger, to win the war. They had wished Yugo had lived instead, but continued to encourage Yuma to continue fighting, to help them win the war and do what Yugo would have wanted…"

I felt disgust rise in my throat in the form of bile, hatred growing for the people that had forced a child to fight in a war that wasn't his.

"However, there had no way of knowing… that along with the black Trigger, Yuma inherited Yugo's side effect— the ability to detect lies."

' _Side effect… Yuma had one all along. So that's why his eyes would darken_ …'

"Yuma fought for the next three years, years that gave him experience and skill. Faced with stubborn resistance, the enemy eventually abandoned the invasion, and the war ended with reconciliation. His allies won, but Yuma didn't feel any accomplishment. Yuma's travels… eventually brought him to this world."

"So that's why he's so small and doesn't need to sleep." I mused distractedly, trying futilely to quell the rising negative emotions.

"A Trion body doesn't grow," Replica elaborated politely. "Yuma's body hasn't changed since he was 11."

"Is he immortal then?"

" _No_." Replica quickly shot down. "Even with all of Yugo's power… that would be impossible. Yuma's real body, sealed inside the ring, is slowly dying. When his body dies, the Trion body will cease to exist as well."

I breathed out heavily. "So… he came to Border to… fix it?"

"That was… my intent. But not Yuma's." Replica stated quietly, much to my shock. "Yuma was hoping to resurrect his father from the black Trigger he poured everything into. But… when he heard Soichi Mogami's fate… he realized it was not possible, even at Border."

My eyes widened slowly.

"Yuma… no longer has a reason to live."

And that was the heart of the matter, wasn't it?

-0-

"I'm… going to go back to my world. I don't have any reason to be here anymore… I'd just cause more problems for Mori if I stayed… and she's got enough on her plate. But, these past few days have been very interesting. More fun than I've had in a while."

Jin smiled at Yuma. "That's good. **_You have lots more fun things to look forward to_** , you know. You have your whole life ahead of you."

Jin glanced up at the sky before his eyes flickered back to Yuma as if just remembering something. " _And as for Mori_ … she's going to need some help, a lot. She struggles to have confidence in herself, and obviously doesn't have too many friends yet."

Jin's lips twitched upwards softly at the sight of Yuma's confused expression. "You mean more to her than just a bunch of problems, you know."

-0-

" _You… You want to join Border?!_ "

Chika nodded morosely, thinking Mori to be disappointed in her. "Yeah…"

"An agent— Chika, that's dangerous!"

"I know." She replied meekly.

"Sorry about this." Shiori only offered sheepishly. "I thought Jin scouted Chika too, so… I gave her the whole spiel, and she got _really_ into it. I'm all for it, but I thought you should know."

' _The one who was recruited refused… and the one who wasn't, wants to enlist…?!_ '

Mori sighed heavily. "Chika… what will you do if you join Border?"

Chika glanced up and forward, finally looking determined. "Yuma said, my friend… and my brother could still be alive on the other side."

They both tried to ignore the way Mori's eye twitched at the mention of Rinji.

"I've thought about it, and decided… I don't want to leave it to others. I have to look for them myself."

I sighed enough frustration seeping into my tone that made us wince. "Chika, to go to the other world, you have to be—"

-0-

 **"Mom, I think… I want to join Border."**

 **"…Is that so?"**

 **"Yeah. I've started martial arts lessons like I said, and I'm asking to be taught how to wield a sword. It'll take a lot 'till I'm up to that level, but—"**

 **"Mori…"**

 **"—I want to, mom. This is… beyond important. I don't want to lose anyone, I want to protect the city… I want to protect Chika. I have to—"**

 **"Mori. I'm… I could never stop you. Not from doing this, you look much too determined. Please don't feel as if I'm an obstacle in between you, and any dreams you have."  
**

 **"…I love you. I just hope that you come home safe everyday, you know? Or else I'll have to beat up whoever it was that hurt you with a stick."**

-0-

"—You have to be A-rank!" I forcefully pushed the memory from my head. "Do you know how hard that is?"

Chika looked down sadly again.

"Uh, even if you're picked to go… You can't choose where you go." Shiori cut in. "You might not end up in the country they were taken to."

"I know… It might be pointless for me to do anything." Chika's hands curled around each other in her lap. "But I can't sit by and do nothing. If there's a small possibility, I…"

Mori jolted in shock. ' _Chi—Chika's never been so… persistent. Huh, maybe if I had just hung onto my dream that mu_ —'

"I get it." Shiori tilted my head, voice snapping me out of my thoughts. "Well… what should we do? Like I said, our team only has elite agents… there's no room for newbies. If you really want to be A-rank, you might be better off going to HQ and joining a team there… I want you to join us of course, but…"

After a moment of silence, Mori's eyes snapped upward all of a sudden, and she looked to Chika quickly.

"Chika… can we talk quickly?"

-0-

" **Yuma**."

Yuma's head rose, and he turned to the door behind him. "Oh, Mori. What's up?"

Mori gulped, and took a seat beside him, facing the opposite direction.

"Chika… wants to join Border."

"Oh?" Yuma sounded faintly curious at that.

"She wants to find her kidnapped _brother_ and friend." She elaborated, stumbling over the word 'brother'.

"Oh, makes sense." Yuma agreed. "What about you? If she joins… there's nothing stopping you, huh?"

" _I… I don't know_." Mori settled. "But I thought about discouraging Chika, but… she's never been so determined. I can't change her mind, no matter what. But…"

Mori met eyes with Yuma, crimson red clashing with navy green.

"… **The three of us would make a complete team, you know**."

Yuma felt as if he should jolt in shock, maybe gape, but kept his expression carefully blank.

"There's no point in me lying, Replica told me why you really came here, and about your dad." She added.

"Yeah," Yuma got up and rubbed the back of his head. "It was a wild goose chase, unfortunately. I don't have anything to do here anymore."

"Then, _please help Chika_." Mori pressed, a tinge of desperation clinging to her voice that the two of them tried to ignore. "We need a skilled leader, and two don't make a team. _We need you there_."

( _I need you there_ )

"We can't make it to A-rank on our own..."

( _I'm sorry I'm not good enough I wish I could have been strong for once_ )

"Chika won't be able to make it where she needs to be with only someone like me."

( _I'm so useless on my own I'm so sorry please don't leave me_ )

"…She needs you to help her. Just me… is not enough."

( _I need you to stay with us please you're my only friend_ )

" _Please_."

Yuma looked at Mori blankly, thoughts swirling through his head as every single stray concept of uselessness Mori thought up, was received by Yuma, word for word.

" **You're still a demon of helpfulness**. Then again, Chika does seem to be like family… for you." He sighed, laidback. "No… you'd be like that for anyone, wouldn't you? _And half-kill yourself_."

" **Hey** — where'd you get that idea from—?!" Mori snapped back, eyes narrowing slightly.

"When my dad died..."

Mori's jaw snapped shut with a click.

Yuma stared up at the sky. "…He was smiling for some reason, and I didn't understand why. I almost died because I didn't listen to his warning, he shouldn't have had to die for me. So why was he smiling….? I've always wanted to ask him."

He met Mori's eyes good-naturedly. " _I think you're a bit like him_ , taking care of others with no regard for yourself." He continued, taking no heed to her embarrassed sputtering. "Why do you risk your life to help other people? Is it that you just can't ignore people in need?"

Mori looked down, pink fading from her cheeks quickly. "… I'm not really a good person. But… if I ran away from what I think I should do, even once, then don't you think I might end up running away… when it matters most?"

She looked up at last, jabbing her finger into his chest grumpily. " _I do it for my own selfish reasons. Nobody else can make me do what I don't want to_."

Yuma nodded good-naturedly. " **Yup, sounds like you**. But you better run when you're in danger. That's a skill too, _or you'll die before I will_."

" **No one's dying without my permission**." Mori scolded, bumping a fist against his head.

"All right…" He pushed himself off of the brick edge. "I guess I should help out, huh? After all—"

"Really?!" Mori clarified excitedly.

"—If I don't, you'll get Chika and yourself killed."

Mori scowled. "…. _really_?"

Yuma chuckled.

Mori coughed embarrassedly. "But still, don't die without telling me. I've got a mini Replica with me all the time for a reason, if you're in danger, you call me so you can get permission to die peacefully."

( _Please don't leave, you're my only friend_ )

Yuma snickered, the both of them walking to the door together. "That sounds so dark, Mori. You could just ask me to not die, you know."

( _I won't leave._ )

( _You're not useless_.)

( _I'll be here for as long as I can_.)

( _Don't ever say you're not strong_.)

(… _I don't want you to ever belittle yourself like that_.)

Yuma chuckled, his thoughts on Mori finally snapping into place, and cemented into the spot in his mind with an immeasurable amount of trust and respect.

It wasn't unlike Mori's own opinion on Yuma, in her own head.

' _So… this is a "best friend", huh…?_ '

-0-

Chika waited patiently at the bottom of the stairs, before getting up just after the click of a door was heard.

"Mori… Yuma."

Yuma waved to her casually, trying to not let her know the heaviness of some of the earlier conversations. "Mori invited me to join, so count me in. I got time. Besides, you still have to teach me how to ride a bike."

Chika nodded with a soft and excited smile. "Thanks!"

"But…" He continued.

" ** _Mori's gonna be our leader_**." He finished with a grin, slight smugness leaking through as her face paled drastically. " _Or I'm not doing it_."

" **Wha—** What are you saying?! **_You're the leader!_** " She exclaimed irritatedly. "I've got no real battle experience, minimal knowledge in fighting, and my Trion levels are—"

"Not actually that bad for what we're aiming for." Yuma cut in with a sparkle.

"— ** _Why would I be the leader?!_** "

Yuma glanced at her blankly for a moment, before grinning at her with a fire in his eyes.

"Because _… that's the way I think it should be_."

Mori froze.

"I agree," Chika added directly after. "I think Mori should be the leader."

Mori blushed lightly while glancing at the two of them, for once speechless.

"That settles it." Yuma smugly stated, patting her shellshocked form on the back. "Let's go see Rindou-san… it's kind of embarrassing since I've already refused…"

-0-

" _Took you long enough_!"

The three of us jolted as Rindou's voice cut through the tension like a knife.

"Registration forms and transfer papers."

Yuma looked up at Jin questioningly. "Jin… did you see this future?"

He only smiled at us. "I told you, _'you have lots more fun things to look forward to'_."

I wanted to scowl at him for manipulating us again but at this point, I was just too stunned.

"There… The formal induction will be after I get the forms from your legal guardians… _but as a director_ , I welcome you to the Border Tamakoma branch."

He clapped the papers against the desk.

"Starting now... _You are a squad. With this squad, you will work towards A-rank promotion,_ ** _and selection for an away squad mission!_** "

' _Mom… can I really make it to A-rank?_ '


	3. Pumped Up Kicks

A/N -

Ah, I hope this is long enough... I feel somewhat unsatisfied? Mori's character is a hard one to flesh out, and I'm trying to show things in this that didn't typically happen in the manga/anime, so thing's'll change…but who knows how it'll go.

Just so everyone knows, theres no romance between Mori and Yuma for the rest of the series, strictly friends only. Sorry, but… romance wouldn't fit their dynamic for what I'm planning? If that makes any sense. Well, Romance is still uncertain territory for all I've planned this fic ahead, so… if you've got any suggestions or maybe questions, go ahead and ask, whenever!

 _ **Also, I got my first review from Black Angel and Ice Prince! And, holy- Thank you so much for the compliment and feedback! This made me so happy, and I just felt so much better for the rest of the day!**_

 _Thank you to anyone that favourited or followed, I hope you have a lovely day!_

-0-

"Okay, everyone!"

Shiori pushed up her glasses, whiteboard already filled with diagrams and information behind her. "You're all trying to make A-rank! And to do that, we need everyone to make it to B-rank! And why is that? Because you have to be B-rank; and official agents, in order to go on missions. And most importantly, you need to participate in the B-rank wars to get promoted!"

My mind was reeling from the information.

"Rank wars?" Yuma asked curiously, filling in the silence.

"Yes. To be promoted, you need—not only mission merits, you need to win mock battles between Border agents. We call them ' _Rank wars_ '. You compete against others in your class…. and the victors rise in rank."

"Hm… So. To make A-rank, I just stomp all of the B-rank creeps?" Yuma summarized.

"And to make B-rank, you just beat up a bunch of the C-rankers," I added on hesitantly. ' _Lovely_.'

"So, when? Now?" He asked impatiently.

"Don't get ahead of yourself." Shiori scolded lightheartedly. "Official Border HQ enlistment days occur three times a year. New recruits all become C-rank at the same time. You can't participate in Rank wars _until then_."

Yuma pouted childishly, just as I fell sideways to lean against him tiredly.

"No need to hurry, Yuma," Jin reassured calmly. "You'll need time to get used to our Border Triggers. You won't be able to use black Triggers in rank wars."

"Hm…? Why not?" I felt Yuma's arm shift as he held a finger up to rest against his chin. " _Because HQ will come after me?_ "

"That too, but a black Trigger is too powerful and is automatically deemed S-rank. It's ineligible for rank wars. You wouldn't be able to form a squad with Chika and four-eyes."

Yuma shifted so the two of us could both get a good look at the ring. "So that's how it is." He sent me a quick glance that I shrugged to before sighing. "Then I won't use it."

"What should Chika do…?" Shiori scratched her head. "Should she be an **operator** … or a **combatant** …?"

"A combatant, of course." I was quick to defend Chika's desire to protect herself.

"She has so much Trion." Yuma finished casually. "And when the Neighbours come after her, it's better she knows how to fight."

Shiori tilted her head. "Is she that amazing?"

"Wait 'till you see." We said in unison, my tone blander than his.

Chika nodded along with us. "I'd like… to know how to fight too."

"Combatant it is!" Shiori decided easily. "Let's decide on positions."

"...Positions?" Chika repeated curiously.

"Field agents are categorized by combat range; Attacker, Gunner, Sniper. Let's see, which one would she be suited for…?" Shiori tilted her head with a smile. "Chika, are you athletic?"

"No, not really…" Chika replied meekly.

"Are you good at math? Have you played shoji or chess?"

"My grades are average… I've never played either…"

Shiori tapped the marker against her temple. "No team sports experience. Hm…"

Chika bowed remorsefully. "I'm sorry I have nothing going for me…"

"Huh? No, it's not a problem, we're just brainstorming!" Shiori encouraged, waving a hand loosely.

When Chika showed no signs of speaking up for herself, I sat up slightly to give Yuma's shoulder a break and leaned back on the couch cushions.

"Chika has more going for her in terms of long-distance runs and races." I began, watching Shiori's eyes light up and Chika turn to me out of the corner of my eye, astonished. "She's very serious and can persevere on her duties for long periods of time without breaks. She never shows signs of getting tired at painstaking work. She's focused, and really flexible." I finished with a small smile.

"Ooh…!" Yuma whistled from beside me, and Chika blushed slightly at the praise.

"Okay, okay! All right!" Shiori exclaimed as she wrote a few things on the board. "My analysis says the position best suited for Chika, is….!"

" ** _Sniper_**." Jin abruptly cut in, suddenly reminding me of his presence.

"Aww, _Jin_!" Shiori whined. "I wanted to say it! Why'd you do that?!"

"Your dramatic pause was too long." He chuckled, and I smothered a laugh under my breath that Yuma and Chika both definitely heard.

I heard loud stomps coming from the hall suddenly, and our discussion was cut off as the door to the room slammed open.

" _WHERE'S MY DORAYAKI?! IT'S GONE!_ ** _WHO ATE IT?!_** "

I surprisedly swung my head backwards, observing the girl who had rushed through the door. Her hair was a perfect shade of strawberry blonde, and her panicked blue eyes seemed to be a slightly greener shade than Jin's own.

She ran over to Yotaro, who had been sleeping on Raijinmaru's back on the floor, and lifted him harshly by the feet.

"Was it you again?! _DID YOU EAT IT?!_ "

"Mmbl….mmf….sho good…."

" ** _IT WAS YOU, WASN'T IT?!_** "

"I'm sorry, Konami," Shiori suddenly apologized, pressing her hands together. "I served them to our guests yesterday."

" **WHAT?!** "

"I'll buy more next time!" She promised, hands clasped in front of her apologetically as Konami stretched out her cheeks.

"I want some _NOW_!"

To my surprise, a few steps echoed in the room from the threshold.

"What's going on? Konami's making a racket."

"And that's remarkable, in _what_ way?"

I glanced back once more, taking notice of the two new males entering the room.

Both appeared very stoic, one with black hair bordering on the line between messy and neat, and the other was tall with short light brown hair.

'… _The A-rank Tamakoma agents…?_ '

"Oh," The black haired male glanced at us. "Are these three the new recruits Jin was talking about?"

"...New recruits?!" Konami scowled at us. "Nobody told me anything about that! Why are we getting new recruits, Jin?!"

Jin stood up leisurely, a smug grin snapping into place that made me resist kicking him as he walked by my seat.

"I hadn't told you yet. Actually…"

He stood behind the couch we were sitting on, Yuma, Chika, and me in between my two friends

"These three… _are my brother and sisters_."

I saw a small sparkle in his eye and tried my best to keep my expression blank as the two males looked at us confusedly.

Konami however…

"What?! They are?!" She held up her hand, staring at us very carefully before her head swung around to make eye contact with the black haired male. "Jin has siblings…?! Did you know about this?!"

"Of course." He said with a sparkle of amusement in his eyes, and any assumptions I had that he was the serious one of the group, immediately flew away. "Didn't you know, Konami?"

She stared at Yuma, and he made a smug expression as if to taunt her. "He does kind of look like Jin…."

She spun around again to stare at the last new addition. "Did you know too, Reiji?!"

"Yeah, I knew…" The brunette deadpanned. "… ** _That Jin is an only child_** …"

Konami jolted with a lost expression. "This is Kirie Konami, 17 years old. She's quite gullible." Shiori introduced, as Konami glanced around confusedly.

"You tricked me?!"

"I didn't think you'd fall for it," Jin chuckled good-naturedly. "You're something else."

"This scruffy hottie is Kyosuke Karasuma, 16 years old." Shiori continued.

Karasuma lifted a hand casually. "I'm the scruffy hottie, nice to meet you."

"This impeccably composed beefcake is Reiji Kizaki, 21 years old."

"Composed beefcake...?" Kizaki mumbled distractedly. "Does that even make me human?"

"Now that everyone's here…Let's get down to business." Jin cut in with a grin. "These three have their own reasons to make A-rank. They're going to throw themselves into the harsh world of elites."

' _Such weird wording_.' I thought blankly, slightly lost now that I wasn't being the one Jin messed with.

"Like Usami said… there's still some time before the B-rank wars. The next official enlistment is January 8th, in about three weeks. We need to train them over the next three weeks, what I mean is… **_The three A-rank agents will be mentors to Four-eyes, Chika, and Yuma, and give them one-on-one guidance_**."

My spine straightened as the three turned to look at us, eyes narrowing judgingly.

"What?! Don't tell me what to do!" Konami shrieked. "I haven't even acknowledged their enlistment…!"

"Konami." Jin interrupted. "This is also… **an order from the boss**."

Konami jolted. "The boss?"

"Can't help it if they're Rindou-san's orders." Kizaki deadpanned with his arms crossed.

"Yeah, gotta do it." Karasuma nodded along from beside him.

Konami's head lowered, and for a moment I thought she was going to growl, but she only reached over. "Fine… I'll do it. But…"

Her arm reached around Yuma's back, hand gripping his shoulder. "I'm taking this one."

'… _Eh?_ '

"You're the toughest, right?" Konami explained with narrowed eyes. " **I hate weaklings**."

"Ooh. You have a good eye." Yuma smirked slightly. "But if you hate weaklings, then you shouldn't have any problems with _any one_ of the three of us."

"Then Reiji will take Chika." Shiori gestured to the tall man with a smile. "He's the only one with sniper experience."

Chika bowed lightly to him. "N-nice to meet you…"

"Nice to meet you." He responded kindly.

"And that means my only choice is…." Karasuma glanced at me blankly.

"…. _I apologize in advance_." I returned morosely.

Shiori clapped excitedly. "Okay then, listen to your mentors—"

"Shiori," Jin cut in with a slightly smug grin. "You didn't pick a position for four-eyes yet."

"—And work hard for the— **what?!** " She stumbled, whipping around to face me. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

I blinked. "Uh." After I moment, I settled for a confused shrug. "I just thought… I'd do whatever…?"

Konami frowns at me. "' _Do whatever_ '…? Tamakoma has no room for newbies you know, much less anyone that isn't committed to this."

I ignored the sting the words brought and shrugged. "I'll do whatever I need to so that Chika and Yuma can make A-rank."

"Well, more questions!" Shiori yelled, giving a moment for everyone to sit down on the couches as she tapped her marker against the whiteboard.

"Mikumo, do you like sports more than studying?"

I thought for a moment. "Yeah."

"Are you overly competitive?"

"….Sometimes, when provoked." I hesitated. True to my worries, I heard two muffled snorts from Yuma and Jin's general direction.

"Do you have unyielding confidence in your abilities?"

I gave a nervous laugh that spoke for itself.

"Do you have any experience with team sports?"

I nodded with a bit more confidence. "Yeah. I'm not too good all on my own, but I'm pretty decent with supporting others."

She hummed appreciatively. "How are your grades? Do you play any strategic games like chess or shogi?"

I shrugged. "I've played. But I'm only really good at them half the time, and my grades are…" I stopped to think.

" **Mori has really good grades. Some of the best in our class**." Yuma interrupted quickly, and I shot him a small glare.

"Oh? So she's smart?" Konami asked with a quirked brow.

I made a vague side to side motion. "Sometimes, _I can be really dumb_."

I heard another loud snort, and true to the three-strikes-out rule, I gave Yuma a sharp kick that caused him to yelp.

"Alright!" Shiori cheered, spinning back around to face me. "You'll be a…. **SHOOTER**!"

When she went uninterrupted, she sent a victorious glance to Jin, who whistled innocently while crunching down on a rice cracker.

Yuma however, was a bit put out. "Shooter? Not an attacker?"

Shiori shrugged. "It fits the most. Why, does it bother you?"

Yuma pouted. "Well, I just thought that she was pretty good with the swo—"

" ** _Annnnd that's that_**." I cut him off pointedly, trying to hold myself back from tackling him to cover his mouth. "Shooter sounds cool, should we get training started now?"

"Ah, yes!" Shiori exclaimed, Yuma and I's suspiciousness being surprisingly swept under the rug. "Work hard for the next three weeks, you six!" She paused, before turning to Jin confusedly. "Wait, you're not teaching anyone, Jin?"

" _Hm? Me?_ " He asked innocently, before raising a hand in a lazy salute. "I'm sitting this one out. I've got lots of stuff to do."

-0-

"Ooh!" I glanced around the area, eyes wide and drinking in the sight of the bright room. "The basement is bigger than the building…! Is it a Trigger again?"

"Yeah," Karasuma nodded. "We used a Trigger to create space. Most of it's being used for the sniper room, this place is actually pretty small in comparison."

" _Heh_ …?" I cocked an eyebrow. "Jeez, Triggers can really do nearly anything, huh…?"

"They aren't just weapons," He agreed patiently. "They're the technology at the foundation of the entire Neighbour civilization… At least, that's what Rindou-san told us."

"Ah… is that so?"

He nodded, before pointing to a nearby table. "First thing's first… Pick a Trigger. We can try them all I guess… But picking a weapon first is the basis of learning."

I nodded, stepping closer to the surface. "…What do they do?"

He stepped beside me, pointing to the one my hand was closest to. "That one has an Asteroid Trigger in it… the starter. Not much, but strong."

He pointed to the next one, perfectly identical to the first. "Viper. Fast with a set trajectory." He gestured vaguely to the second two. "Hound chases after a set target. Meteora, explosion. Pick one."

' _Those were shitty explanations for a newbie like me_.' I gave him a quick blank stare that I hoped he didn't catch.

I stared at the first one before snatching it up with a heavy sigh. "Guess I'll go through each one and see which clicks the most…"

"That's generally the idea, yeah." Karasuma took his own Trigger out of his pocket. "Unless you're already experienced like Kuga seemed to be. He can probably pick which Trigger would suit him most with just a glance."

I shrugged and activated the Trigger absentmindedly.

"If you were hoping for a talented pupil… sorry, but I guess you drew the short straw."

He activated his own Trigger, eyes narrowing slightly at me. "Don't hold back."

" _Yessir_."

-0-

"It means… you can keep losing, over and over again. **Shrimp**." Konami stated with narrowed eyes and crossed arms.

"It's not shrimp." Yuma sent her a lighthearted smile, eyes closed pleasantly. "The name's Yuma Kuga. I'm looking forward to trouncing you, _lady_."

"Why you—!" Konami scowled. "Show some respect! **I have seniority over you!** "

"Oh. _Really_?" Yuma twirled a Trigger in his hand casually, smirking at her with a hint of smugness. "I've only got respect for… three people right now. _Maybe_ a fourth. If you beat me, I'll consider it though. **_Lady_**."

Konami jolted before her expression hardened into something much more fierce. "You think you can beat with a Border Trigger…? I've been part of this organization longer than Jin, you know."

She smirked, holding out her white Trigger in front of her with a smirk. "Fine. Alright then… If you can beat me… **_I'll call you by your name, shrimp_**."

-0-

"I can't believe it…!" Konami despaired, face pale as Yuma smoothed down his hair from beside her.

He looked at her with a slight sparkle in his eye. " _I won_." Just to rub it in again.

"Y-you did not!" She shrieked. "I'm way better than you!"

"Hm… 9-1… such a high hurdle." He sighed lightly. "But only for now. I'm getting the hang of how you fight, Konami."

"Don't let it get to your head, Yuma. That was your first and last win!"

"Oh, by the way…" Yuma turned to Shiori. "Mori isn't done yet?"

Shiori shook her head, hand loosely gripping the headphones over her ears. "No… Torimaru's still fighting with her, so it may take a while…"

" _Hah_?!" Konami cocked an eyebrow. "Torimaru? He should've beat the snot out of four-eyes in five seconds flat!"

"Well, he doesn't rely on his instincts as much as you do… so he's not going seriously. Honestly, you guys forget, that Mori's a beginner with any kind of Triggers..." Shiori trailed off at the end. "He's really just messing around with her to see what she can do. Mikumo's not too bad, actually."

"She's probably out of her element," Yuma commented. "She seemed to have already practised with a sword… I still don't know why she's more suited to be a shooter."

He almost seemed to pout at that, and the two girls did a double take.

"What do you mean, ' _practised with a sword_ '? She's not even a C-rank. Like Shiori said, she's never used a Trigger before." Konami huffed.

"Hm." Yuma turned to them, tilting his head curiously. "Jin didn't tell you?"

" ** _Tell us what?_** "

"Ah, nothing," Yuma covered up a smirk with his hand. "He'll probably throw it in your faces later to see your reaction…"

The doors from nearby opened suddenly, jolting the three out of their conversation as they turned their heads to take a look.

Mori stumbled, wobbling and swaying side to side as she panted tiredly, with Karasuma stepping in casually, not far behind her.

Shiori handed Karasuma a cup of water, and he took it gratefully before taking a long sip, staring at Mori thoughtfully the entire time.

There was a long, expectant silence.

"…So?" Konami inquired curiously.

Mori staggered over to Yuma, before abruptly dropping like a rock onto the couch, and falling over to lean on his back, much to Konami's astonishment.

The brunette girl let out a small scream, the sound muffled by the clothing of Yuma's Trion body. He only laughed in response, grabbing the cup of water Shiori had offered his friend to hold for her. "So, _how was that_?"

" ** _Mmf_**." She grumbled, not lifting her head to give him a proper response.

The three turned to Karasuma instead, who only glanced up thoughtfully.

"...She has good battle instincts… definitely."

"Doesn't she?" Shiori asked. "That was a good first shot she made, it almost took off your head!"

"I wasn't using my Trigger at full power, Usami," Karasuma stated blandly. "But still, even though I was holding back... she's quite impressive."

"Really?" Konami muttered disbelievingly, and Yuma shot her a smug glance.

"She's obviously a bit out of her element though," Karasuma added, unknowingly repeating Yuma's words from before. "It's as if she's not used to using any ranged weapons... I was thinking about using a gunner Trigger instead to start, it might help her a bit more."

"Oh, that's a good idea," Shiori encouraged cheerfully. "Sometimes the regular shooter Triggers aren't what people are used to. Having something that's less widespread might help her get her bearings better."

" ** _Mmmmgh fffgh_**."

"I can't understand you when you're like that." Yuma laughed lightheartedly, before turning back to Shiori. "So, what about Chika?"

"Ah, Reiji's on defence duty today," Shiori informed them. "So Chika's practising on her own with the non-motion targets... she'll probably run out of Trion in... around one or two more hours, so she can come back in by then."

Mori let out a muffled snort, and Yuma gave the curious agents a quick smug chuckle.

"Chika's gonna be there for a while then, I guess we can go back to fighting..." He mumbled to his partner beside him and got up with a huff. Mori leaned off of him to get up herself from beside him.

She tilted her head, finally opening her mouth to give her friend a coherent sentence. "…Yuma, how well did you do against Konami-senpai anyway?"

He hummed. "9-1, she won."

Mori gave out a displeased grumble at that. "Bring it up to 8-2 soon. We've gotta progress as quickly as we can."

"Alright, Alright~" Yuma waved to her and walked past the shell-shocked Konami, waving his hand carelessly. "Well, you've got to land at least two hits on Torimaru by then, okay?"

Mori scowled determinedly, stomping past an amused Shiori and towards the first training room door. " ** _You don't need to tell me twice!_** "

-0-

"Oh, my!"

I sipped on my drink loudly and obnoxiously, leaning sideways so my back was resting against Yuma's side.

" _What's with these numbers?!_ They might as well be from a black Trigger!" Shiori marvelled.

"How do you do it?!" Konami questioned, tugging on Chika's cheeks playfully.

I grabbed a sandwich from the table.

"Amatori's Trion is near S-rank level," Kizaki commented, a sliver of pride leaking into his usually blank tone. "She has patience and focus, and she's suited to being a sniper. When she learns how to fight… she has potential to be an ace."

"Oh, my!" Shiori gaped, before placing a finger on her chin. "Such praise from Reiji. Could Chika be our most promising star?"

Konami twitched before grabbing Yuma's collar and yanking. "Yuma's more powerful! He's as good as the top B-ranks already. He'll make A-rank as soon as he gets used to Border Triggers!" I fell sideways when my headrest disappeared, but only sighed disappointedly and moved back to where I was supposed to be sitting.

"I'll become stronger than Konami," Yuma commented casually. "A certain someone will be disappointed if I don't."

"I think not," Konami muttered through clenched teeth, wounded pride causing her to not hear the last comment. "Don't get cocky."

Shiori hummed, pulling out a notebook. "Then we should explain Triggers to Yuma. Usually, we make you wait until B-rank."

I took a large bite of my sandwich, just as Konami turned to Karasuma. "What about you guys, Torimaru? Can four-eyes be of any use?"

Karasuma glanced off into the air, before nodding. "She's pretty good, but not too high level at the moment. Her instincts are good though, and she learns quite quickly. Something tells me that… _maybe she'll be able to go toe-to-toe with Kuga_ … at some point."

I choked harshly, coughing painfully as Yuma had a good laugh at my misery.

"W-what?!" I coughed again. "I'm not that good, there's no way I could ever get near his level!" I yelled.

"Aw, I was so excited to fight you," Yuma complained, leaning over and poking me in the cheek, much to the Tamakoma agents astonishment. "After that scene with the C-rank Trigger, I got so excited to see you seriously."

I reached right back over and jabbed him in the side, ignoring Konami's questioning ' _C-rank Trigger?_ ' in the background. " _I thought we aren't supposed to talk about that—_ and besides, those were amateur moves!"

He stuck out his tongue at me, and in a small burst of playful childishness, made a loud ' _bleah_ ' noise.

"Fine then!" I scowled and reaching out sideways, looping an arm around an exasperatedly fond Chika's shoulders. "I bet anything, that Chika'll be the ace! She's got more Trion than you!"

Yuma was about to send a playful jab back to me but to everyone's astonishment…

Chika lifted up both arms and poked the two of us in the cheeks so suddenly that I nearly jumped out of my skin.

Yuma and I froze, startled and confused.

A long silence prevailed, my mind screeching to a halt as I tried to process what just happened.

Chika nodded, satisfied, once she saw that we weren't bantering anymore, and pried my arm from around her and stood in between us, patting our heads with a serene smile.

"We should all be the aces, wouldn't that be more fun?"

I paused for a moment, just as Shiori spoke up from behind us with a small grin.

" _Just as I thought, Chika is the ace_. She tamed the two beasts with just a touch."

" **I'm not a beast**." I twisted my head to mutter irritatedly to Shiori, ignoring the way that Chika was dragging Yuma and me by the arms to sit beside her on the longest couch.

"Ah, she really does have them wrapped around her finger," Karasuma commented amusedly, sipping on his tea. I ignored the loud muffled snicker from Konami's direction with a vengeance.

"Chika does have a point though," Yuma commented, considerably calmer. " ** _We should all just be aces_**."

"That's not how that works…" I sighed heavily and leaned back on the couch. "Jeez, something about bantering with Yuma just gets me all hyped up, no matter how tired I feel."

"It's because you guys are good friends," Chika said with a smile. "It's surprising how long ago you guys met, considering how close you guys are."

"Wait." Konami paused. "How long have you guys known each other?"

I paused for a few moments in thought, before leaning backwards at the same time as Yuma to peek over Chika's shoulder as I dropped my voice down to a whisper.

" _A week?_ "

He hummed contemplatively, before nodding and whispering back.

" _Around a week_."

We got back up, and I looked at Konami with a nod. "A week."

All of the A-rank agents and Shiori's heads snapped to look at us so quickly, that I was worried they had snapped their necks, causing me to flinch back.

" ** _A WEEK?!_** " Konami shrieked, and Karasuma stared at us with wide eyes.

"Huh?" Yuma tilted his head. "Why is that so surprising?"

"YOU GUYS ARE SO… _CLOSE_!"

Reiji gave Konami a small slap on the back for her bluntness and shut his slightly gaping mouth.

"That is true though," Shiori commented, shocked. "You two are… very informal with each other. I wouldn't have expected you two to not have known each other for very long, with how friendly you are."

I paused for a moment, before glancing at Yuma and Chika. "Is that how it works? I've never had friends really… Yuma never told me off for always leaning on him, so I didn't really stop…"

Yuma shrugged, and I missed the incredibly fond smile that Chika sent to us. "Ah… I didn't mind, really."

He whistled pleasantly as he gave me thumbs up. "Besides, when you watch someone get smacked through a building and end up saving them from certain death, you can become great friends."

There was a long pause as everyone digested his words, myself included.

I slapped him upside the head as Konami shrieked in surprise. "You went through a building?!"

"It wasn't through a building!" I rebutted, slightly raising my voice to be heard by everyone over Konami's panicked yelling. "It was just a brick wall!"

"That's not any better!" Shiori objected hurriedly. "When did this even happen?!"

"Ah...?" A brief image of a Bamster looming over my head threateningly went through my mind, along with a quick flash of Yuma with a shroud of black Trion crackling around him. "… _A week ago?_ "

"The day we met!" Yuma confirmed merrily, much to everyone's astonishment.

Chika sent me a slightly scolding stare for not mentioning it to her, and I made a mix between a confused and irritated noise while I gestured to the side vaguely, trying to defend myself. " _It wasn't that bad!_ "

"Yeah," Yuma grabbed another sandwich. "She only bruised her ribs, which is pretty decent, considering how big the Bamster was."

There was dead silence in the room.

"…Bruised ribs?" Chika repeated, pleasant smile not fading as she turned to stare at me judgingly.

"Bamster?" Karasuma and Shiori muttered questioningly.

"…That's decent?" Konami paled slightly, glancing at me worriedly.

I sighed irritatedly, patting my side nonchalantly. "It's healed by now, everyone can calm down."

"It was huge though," Yuma chuckled. "It's easy to get close to someone when they need you to save them every other day."

"Hey!" I protested. "I only needed you to save me… twice! I've saved you…"

"Once." He filled in with a smug smirk. "You hid me from Border, that's it. 1."

I froze, before jabbing a finger in his face with a playful grin. "I bought you food! 2!"

He paused. "That you did. But I saved you from the Bamster, and I took care of the Illgar like you asked me to. 2-2."

"… I dealt with the Marmods! And I defended you during the Border meeting after the battle with the A-Rank agents. 2-4."

"I sent Replica with you during the bombing," He challenged smugly, the two of us not noticing the amused glances of everyone else in the room. "3-4."

"I've still got more than you!"

He paused to think. "…I helped Chika find out how much Trion she had. 4-4."

"Alright, alright~" Shiori smoothly interrupted. "You both saved each other a bunch. But I think you should get back to afternoon training soon…"

We all glanced at the clock.

"Oh, she's right," Yuma muttered. "Well, let's go. I can feel another win coming on today." He pointed to the training room while looking back at Konami.

"Huh?" She narrowed her eyes challengingly, panic from earlier easily forgotten. "Dream on."

-0-

"Hm… Three wins, seven losses again today…" Yuma muttered nonchalantly, hair frizzed up once again. " **That fourth win is a tough one**."

" _You're not the only one who's improving_ ," Konami muttered, positioning her hands on both sides of her hip as she huffed.

"Winning three times against Konami is a feat in itself," Karasuma stated calmly, staring down at a notebook in his hands.

"Torimaru, could we have a bout sometime?" Yuma asked curiously.

"Maybe next time," Karasuma replied, the two of them ignoring Konami's offended squawk in the background.

" ** _How come Torimaru gets your respect already?!_** "

Yuma stared at Karasuma, eyes glimmering with an unsaid question as the man himself sighed.

"I have my hands full thinking of ways… to make your partner stronger."

Yuma nodded, before pausing as the word registered in his mind.

"...Partner?"

"Yes," Karasuma twirled his pen idly. "I thought that was the appropriate word, considering the two of you seem to have no interest in romance whatsoever."

Yuma hummed, before nodding approvingly.

"I like that word."

He paused. "On a side note, can she hit you at all during matches, currently?"

Karasuma sent him a quick glance, before flicking his gaze back down to the paper. "…Once per match, consistently."

"Eh~?" He smirked smugly, much to the amusement of Konami and Karasuma. "I one-upped her then, 5-4 it is."

He pat his head one more time before pausing and turning to Karasuma. "You know… Jin hasn't been around lately."

Karasuma scratched his head absentmindedly with the pen. "He said he had stuff to do."

"He's probably sneaking around," Konami commented with narrowed eyes, sipping her drink. "His hobby is behind the scenes manipulation."

-0-

" **We're almost there!** " Yotaro yelled encouragingly through his mini speaker. " **Hang on.** "

"Oi, oi…" I side eyed him. " _I'm not doing that bad, am I?_ "

"You're doing fine," Kizaki reassured, turning his head back to me. "Do you two jog often?"

"We used to, together," Chika informed him softly in between huffs. "We haven't gotten around to it since my brother was around though…"

I felt my eye twitch but ignored it. "I've been," A Huff. " _Busy_."

"Well, muscles don't matter in a battle of Triggers, but controlling a Trion body has the same sensations, it's based on muscle memory," Kizaki told us, slowing his jog slightly to lag beside us. "The better you are at moving your real body, the more smoothly you can move your Trion body." He glanced at the two of us. "Don't underestimate the value of physical training."

"Okay!"

I sighed. "Okay…"

" **Mori. Don't die!** "

" ** _I'm doing fine, you little brat!_** "

-0-

"Good work!" Shiori cheered while handing Chika and I each water-bottles. "How was that?"

"Good," Chika responded quietly while I took a long gulp of my water.

"Haven't done that in a while," I laughed, patting Yuma on the back. "I think the last time I've gotten that much exercise was when I was running around in a city being bombed."

Yuma laughed, and the small disapproving hum I heard from Replica made me happy enough to miss the confused glances of the Tamakoma agents.

"I still think you were being dumb." He commented dully.

I gave him a cheeky grin that was near unnoticeable. "Never said otherwise."

"Alright, Yuma, Mori, do you two want to go over the Triggers before it gets too late?" Shiori asked cheerfully, waving an arm towards us, providing a momentary distraction.

"Triggers, huh?" Yuma mumbled before I nodded for the two of us.

"We'll be right there, Usami."

She nodded to the two of us, and I took a deep breath before gulping down the rest of my water. "Let's do this quickly, I want to see what kinds there are."

"There was the one you had before," Yuma pointed out to himself, slightly including me. "It looked super light, it might work best for me."

"Probably," The two of us waved to Chika with a smile as we exited the room. "See you later, Chika."

"Bye, ne— _Mori_."

I gave her a curious glance but walked through the door regardless.

-0-

"Okey-dokey, let's go over the Triggers." Shiori cheerfully dropped the box of technology in front of us. "Oh, are we sitting on the floor?"

I shrugged, Yuma leaning back against my chest as he sat in front of me. " _It seemed like a good idea at the time_."

"Should we get up?" Yuma asked curiously, peering up at her.

"No, no!" Shiori shook her head with a smile. "I admire how close you two are despite all of the banter, it's impressive! Besides, we have more room like this."

I nodded to her with a grateful slight smile, and she gave me a short pat on the head as she bent down.

"Alright," She stuck a tool into the Trigger's centre, and a whirring sounded out before the case popped off. "So this is what's inside the Trigger holder."

There was a rectangle board that fits inside the Trigger, with lines resembling wires twisting around and towards eight smaller chips embedded onto the board.

"These little chips are the actual Triggers. They decide what outward form the user's Trion will take."

" _Oh, so it's like a balloon_." I thought out loud. When Yuma tilted his head up join Shiori in giving me a curious glance, I quickly elaborated. "It's as if your Trion is the air… so when you pump it into the Trigger, it'll fill up and inflate it so it can take form… _Sort of_ ," I trailed off unsurely, wondering if I was doing something wrong.

"That's totally an accurate description," Shiori hurriedly reassured me. "Actually, that's one of the best comparisons. If you were to break the Trigger's form… or the balloon, so to say, you would need to make a new balloon, and fill it up with new air, and thus, expending more Trion."

"Pretty good analogy," Yuma complimented, patting my leg absentmindedly. "You're pretty good at this stuff, considering you were a civilian just a few days ago."

"You know, Jin said that a few days ago…" I sighed in exasperation. " ** _You two are too alike_**."

"They are similar, aren't they?" Shiori giggled, before holding up a Trigger. "Anyways, you can set up to eight different types of Triggers, switching between offensive and defensive ones."

She handed Yuma one to take a look at, and I watched from over him, my chin resting on his head.

"This side is the main Triggers for your dominant hand," She pointed to the top row before her finger shifted to the bottom row. "These are the sub Triggers for your other hand. You can use two types at the same time."

"There's a lot you can do with combo's," Yuma observed casually, twirling around the Trigger in his hand.

"Pretty much," Shiori grinned at the two of us with a thumbs up. "First, let's look at the attacker Triggers."

She turned and reached out behind her, before spinning back to us with a laptop in hand. "I've compiled recordings of different border agents using the Triggers for you guys to watch, from the rank wars. So you guys can get a good idea as you watch how they can be used."

"Ooh~! As expected of Shiori," Yuma complimented, and I gave the woman a small smile and a thumbs up.

"Compliments will get you nowhere!" She playfully returned, adjusting her glasses slightly, before tapping a key on her computer loudly as the screen flickered to life.

On the screen, various clips of Border agents were played, most of them at different speeds to see exactly how each person was moving and using the thin sword that I had used against the Marmods.

"Oh, it's this one," Yuma murmurs quietly, evidently having the same thoughts as me.

"This is a lightweight blade that speed-oriented attackers use often, called the Scorpion. The blade can materialize at will, and it weighs almost nothing. You can manifest the blade from places besides your hand," She pointed to the screen as it pauses, a short black haired male frozen on the screen as he swings around two blades skillfully. "By adjusting Trion, it's shape and length can be modified. On the other hand, it's not very durable, so it can break pretty easily if you block with it, it's basically used for _offence only_."

She paused with a smile. "One of the top attackers actually uses it, _Kazama Soya_."

"Do you know him?" I asked curiously, sensing the slight fondness in her voice.

"Eheh, was it that obvious?" She chuckled, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. I dug my chin into Yuma's head when I felt him about to nod bluntly, and he began to pout at me.

"I was actually his team's operator for a while when I still worked at HQ." She replied happily, much to our astonishment.

" _Seriously_? You were part of HQ once?" I murmured, shocked. She nodded cheerily, pushing up her glasses.

"Kazama actually had me as part of his team before some of his other teammates." She recalled. "Ah, I haven't spoken to some of them in a while… especially since they went on the away mission… Actually, they were supposed to be back by yesterday, maybe I can go visit sometime."

"Away mission?" Yuma muttered thoughtfully. "What ranking is their squad?"

" ** _Third best squad_**." She bragged proudly, despite not being on their team anymore. "They're something else, aren't they?"

" _That's amazing_ …" I breathed softly, thoughts running through my mind. "They must all be really skilled."

"They are," She agreed easily, before returning to her laptop.

"Next. The most popular, all-purpose blade. Kogetsu."

Her fingers lashed out at a few more keys before the computer went back to flickering through agents again, but I noticed more diversity in people this time.

"Unlike the Scorpion, it's not easily manifested or retracted, but it has a nice balance of durability and striking strength. It's pretty heavy, and you can't change its shape or length." She nodded towards the screen as multiple clips of a dark grey haired man —it looked dark brown in the light sometimes— wearing a long trench coat wielded a long blade, the slices reaching meters away at times.

"And also… By spending Trion and using its special Trigger options, it can momentarily extend its attack."

"Whoa… that was so cool." My eyes were practically starry. "What ranking is this guy?"

Shiori gave me a pleasant smile. " ** _Number one attacker!_** "

I froze.

-0-

"Did you kill her?" I distantly heard Yuma inquire.

I let out a strangled noise. " _N-n-number o-one….?_ "

"Un," Shiori nodded cheerfully. " ** _Number one squad too!_** "

I fell over promptly, and I heard Yuma whine at the loss of his headrest.

"Ah, I think she really died this time."

"Did she?" Shiori asked.

I felt myself being moved, and Yuma easily picked me up and shifted so that my head was lying against his legs.

My mind blanked. " _What_."

"Oh, she's awake." Yuma pointed out with a grin. "I thought you saw the light at the end of the tunnel for a minute there."

"All I felt, were the cold, clammy hands of death picking me up and moving me." I joked dryly, and I heard a muffled snicker from Shiori's direction.

"My hands are fine!" Yuma protested dramatically, lips pursed to pout. "And you can't blank out like that just at the mention of number one... _since that's what we're aiming for anyway_."

My hand, which was previously resting against his leg, beside my head, tightened into a fist. " _We're what_."

" **Aiming for number one**."

I paused, tilting my head to stare at him with a hopeless expression, before speaking softly and meaningfully. " _Why?_ "

He shot me a smug grin. " _Only the finest_."

"Well, if you're done panicking over there…?" Shiori cut in teasingly, and I took a few deep breathes to calm myself, before sitting up.

"I'm good," I said, mostly to myself. "I'm good?" I ignored the amused expression Yuma sent me. "I'm good." I turned back to the two of them. "Alright, I won't panic like that again. I apologize."

"It's not a problem," Shiori reassured me. "In fact, it was sort of amusing."

" _It was indeed amusing_ ," Yuma commented with a grin, and I gave him a light chop on the head.

"Don't pick me up ever again without warning," I paused, before adding a meaningful, " _Cold hands_."

His eye twitched, and as soon as I turned away to face Shiori, he stuck his hands up the back of my shirt and I let out a loud and high pitched scream.

"OHMYGODGETAWAYFROMMEYOU _COLDHEARTLESS_ ** _HOLYMOTHERFU—!_** "

" _Language_!" Shiori scolded, before taking pity on me and reaching over to drag Yuma away from me. "Honestly, can you two be serious for more ten seconds, _without Chika here to keep you in line?_ "

I recovered my composure with an awkward cough, hands still holding the area that Yuma's cold hands touched from over my sweater. " _I deeply apologize_." The two of us muttered, somewhat embarrassedly. " _It won't happen again_."

"You better hope it won't," Shiori huffed playfully. "Because I'll be your operator, **and if this happens during a rank wars match** …"

" ** _It won't happen_**." We hurriedly assured her, sweat dripping down our temples.

" _Good_." She settles with a smile, looking back at the two of us. "So, shall we continue?"

Sweat dripped down my temple. ' _Ah... Usami and Chika are both forces to be reckoned with..._ '

-0-

"Hm… Kogetsu… or Scorpion? Which should I choose?"

I shrugged to Yuma's muttering. "It's weird that there are only two attack Triggers. Considering how long Border's been around, and how many away missions there have apparently been… Was I expecting too much by thinking there'd be more?"

"Oh, there's still one more!" Shiori chimed in helpfully. "The Raygust! Unlike the other two, the Raygust is a defensive Trigger. The blade transforms, like the Scorpion. There's a shield mode that increases durability in exchange for reduced attack power."

"Oh?" Yuma let out a contemplative hum.

"But it's the heaviest of blades," Shiori warned. "Attackers like to, well, attack, so it's not as popular as the other two. But there are people that are good with the Raygust. Reiji, for one."

"Reiji, huh? Hmm, I see." Yuma repeated thoughtfully.

"So about the Kogetsu..." I trailed off. "Can you tell me more about the number one attacker? He seemed really skilled."

"That was Kei Tachikawa, top user of Kogetsu at HQ," Shiori pointed to the air vaguely. "He used to the be Jin's rival."

" _Rival_?" I repeated, slightly shocked.

"Who was stronger?" Yuma inquired bluntly.

"Probably… **_Tachikawa_**." Shiori tilted her head, replying dramatically.

I let out a surprised noise, slightly startled. " _Jin-san isn't so great after all?!_ "

I felt a light kick hit me in the back of the leg, and my shoulders dropped slightly. "Okay, I deserved that."

"Until a few years ago…" Shiori began, unperturbed. "The only Trigger we had for attackers was the Kogetsu. So Tachikawa and Jin were number one and number two at that time in the individual rankings. Jin said, ' _I can never beat Tachikawa with Kogetsu_ '… and developed the Scorpion with the engineers."

"Jin made this?" Yuma gestured carelessly to the blade in his hand.

"Wow, Border agents sure have a lot of drama going around," I muttered, and Yuma gave me another kick, to which I groaned at. "I deserved that again, _didn't I_."

He didn't deign me with an answer, and Shiori continued. "After Jin started using the Scorpion, there were dead even. But in total, Tachikawa probably had more wins."

"So…" I waved a hand in the air. "You said… ' _used to be_ '…?"

"Well, Jin got his black Trigger." Shiori shrugged, before stepping back to lean on the desk behind her. "Usually only someone compatible can use a black Trigger, but Jin's black Trigger wasn't particularly picky. There were more than 20 agents at the time who could activate it. So they had a competition between all the candidates."

She looked up slightly, pushing up her glasses. "And Jin… **blew them all away**."

"Did that settle their rivalry?" Yuma asked.

"Not quite…" Shiori shook her head. "Tachikawa couldn't participate, he wasn't compatible. So even now… _they still haven't settled the score_."

"Heh…? That's kind of mean of Jin." I muttered. "Leaving without settling their rivalry… _Kind of mean_."

"Well, the black Trigger is his mentor," Yuma pointed out. "I know **_I_** wouldn't hesitate to go for it."

"I suppose." I conceded. "He could still have a match with Tachikawa, without using the black Trigger though… It sounded like it was _implied_ that they haven't had a match since then..."

I rested my chin on my hand, before turning to Shiori. "Usami-san, what do you think?"

She only stared at us blankly with an unreadable expression on her face.

I blinked confusedly. "…Eh? Did we do something wrong…?"

She hurriedly shook her head. "No, no… I was just thinking, **_you two have a strange relationship_**."

The two of us blinked cluelessly.

-0-

"Anyways, the next Triggers are for gunners and shooters." She lifted up a few more Triggers, the three of us settled down on the ground once more. "There are four types of gunner Triggers, each with distinctive features. Torimaru showed them to you, didn't he, Mori?"

" _Vaguely_ ," I muttered, slightly downcast that the only one I'd gotten around to trying was the Asteroid.

"Now, now, don't feel bad about it," She reassured, patting my shoulder. "I think Torimaru was being vague on purpose, to see how you'd react, anyway."

"Alright then," I accepted. "But I still wish I had proper demonstrations."

"Well, that's what I've got these videos here for!" She cheered. " _Examples_!"

"Thank you." I murmured gratefully, adjusting the computer so that I could see it better.

"Well, the first one is the Asteroid. No special attributes, but powerful bullets," She began, the screen flickering through a few gunners, mostly shooters. I noticed the bullets going straight forward, and took note of it mentally.

"Then there's the explosive that affects a wide area… _Meteora_."

There was a clip on the screen of a dark blonde teen —wearing a trench coat identical to Tachikawa's— both hands raised as large cubes formed and spread out, before shooting forwards as he jumps back. The bullets impacted against the targeted wall, and…

The explosion that shook the area caused the camera taking the footage to shake, but my eyes were so focused on the explosion showed on-screen that I couldn't care less.

-0-

"Uh… _Is she ok?_ "

Yuma paused and looked at Mori worriedly.

"…Is she?"

Moir was frozen still, eyes wide and unblinking as she stared at the screen—which was blank, the clip ended a few seconds ago.

"…I thought she said _this wouldn't happen again_ …?" Shiori trailed off.

"No, I think this is different," Yuma snapped his fingers in front of her eyes, no reaction. He slipped he glasses off, and still, no response. "…Should we get a doctor?"

" _I'm considering_." Shiori hummed. "What happened?"

" ** _Does she have a crush?_** " Yuma suggested, and that served to snap Mori out of her daze.

"' _Crush_ '?"

"Oh, she's alive," Yuma commented, yet there was no amusement. "Are you ok? Or was I rig—?"

" _I do not have a crush_." Mori cut him off sharply before her eyes glazed over once again.

Yuma gave her a small slap, and she yelped, more in surprise and less in pain. "What was that for?!"

"You were going to la-la land again," He commented drolly, eyes flickering with a surprising amount of worry. "Are you ok?"

She paused, before nodding certainly.

"I want the Meteora. As my starting Trigger."

Shiori and Yuma blinked, before glancing at each other in surprise. " _Are you sure_?" Shiori asked for confirmation. "You shouldn't choose so quickly, there are still others—"

"I want it," Mori repeated determinedly. "That's the one. I can tell."

Yuma tilted his head, less worried now that Mori stated what was on her mind. "…And _… how_ would you know that?"

She looked him right in the eyes, without blinking, and with a blank expression, whispered. Tone soft and quiet, yet with far more emotion than her words had any right to have in any scenario.

" ** _I want to blow shit up_**."

-0-

 ** _"What are you plotting? Jin."_**

Kido's glared menacingly at Jin. "This ' _deal_ '… is far too good for our side. What are you really after?"

Jin shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm not plotting anything. I'm just supporting the younger generation, in a cool way." He paused. "It's not that I want to beat 'your side'. I'm not in this tug-of-war for Border's leadership."

Jin's eyes narrowed slightly. "I just… **don't want you grown-ups interfering with the battles of my juniors**."

He paused meaningfully, before nodding at Kido.

"If I may add one thing… Kido-san. My juniors will one day be useful… _for your true objective_." When Kido's head twitched up in shock, Jin added, "That's what my side-effect tells me."

Kido paused to think, before nodding. "… _Fine_."

" **We have a deal. In exchange for the black Trigger, Fujin… Yuma Kuga of the Tamakoma branch... is officially approved to enlist in Border**."

Jin relaxed at that statement, his carefree grin sliding back into place as he stepped back from the table, his precious mentor's Trigger left on the surface. "Well, I've got to get home in time for dinner!" He joked, hand wrapping around the doorknob.

The tense aura around the room never left, ever as the door swung open easily.

However, he paused at the threshold. " ** _By the way…_** "

He turned back towards the directors gathered around the table, eyes sharpening dangerously. A shiver went down their backs.

" ** _…if you even think about slapping Four-eyes name on the headline for the whole C-rank Trigger incident…_** "

His tone was icy, yet had not lost that hint of carefreeness that everyone associated with Jin.

"… _Well, I'll just say there'll be consequences_. Four-eyes deserves to start off her Border debut without any grief, _you get me_?"

And the door shut with a click.

-0-

"Hey, welcome back, Jin!" Shiori greeted pleasantly.

"Good evening," Mori waved boredly.

"Yo," Jin waved back. "I'm honoured that you exerted effort enough to wave to me, four-eyes." He reached out a hand to ruffle her hair. She didn't bother trying to stop him this time, actually slightly indulging in the fondness in the action.

"You haven't been around, what've you been up to?" Yuma asked curiously, chewing on a snack.

"An elite agent is a popular guy." Jin bent over to grab one of his own, removing his hand from Mori's head reluctantly. "Yuma, are you getting used to Border Triggers?"

He nodded, giving a smug thumbs up. "Shiori has been teaching me a lot. _The day I lead Konami in wins is nigh_."

"Ooh, great." Jin gave a relaxed grin. "So how's your own training, four-eyes?"

Mori paused for a moment, before turning to him with starry eyes. It startled him, just a bit. " ** _I found the perfect Trigger for me._** "

"Hm?" He hummed curiously, no doubt knowing what she was talking about due to his foresight, but indulging her.

" **Meteora** ," She muttered excitedly. " _I'm going to blow_ ** _everything_** _to bits_."

" _Alright, but about the training_ …" Shiori cut in quickly. "Torimaru is pretty busy with his job, huh?"

"He left me a training regimen," Mori offered. "And I've got tons of time to practice."

"Well, Kyosuke's a good teacher, you'll be fine," Jin reassured, popping the snack into his mouth. " _Work hard, young'uns_. The real deal will be here before you know it."

He stepped over to the door with a wave. "Nighty-night."

"Good night!" Shiori called back.

"See you," Yuma returned.

Mori only stared at him, eyes narrowed slightly in a way that made Jin tilt his head in confusion.

"Four-eyes? Not gonna wish me good night or something?" He teased, but she only blinked before handing him another cracker.

"… _Get some sleep_ , Jin-san." She muttered, somewhat embarrassed for showing worry. "You look like a zombie."

He jolted at that and stared back at the younger girl with wide eyes.

-0-

"Eh? I didn't think so." Shiori mumbled, and Jin only recovered hurriedly with a laugh.

"Well, I'll do that. It's so nice of you to worry, four-eyes!"

He shut the door behind him as a mumbled denial of ' _I wasn't worried_ ' was muffled by the door, much to his amusement. He stepped down the hall, before falling back onto his bed, once he arrived in his room.

"…Phew…"

There was a beat of silence as Kazama's words echoed in his head.

' _You were so determined to get that black Trigger… isn't it your teacher's memento?_ '

He shut his eyes peacefully, arms curled back to tangled his fingers together from behind his head.

"Everything's going to be fine." He whispered.

" ** _The future… is moving forward…_** "

-0-

" _Psst. Yuma_."

Yuma turned over absentmindedly, the distracted fog around his mind clearing away as he distantly wondered who was still awake at this ungodly hour.

His eyes met green, and a wave of surprise swept over him as he recognized the glasses perched on the persons face.

"Mori," He greeted pleasantly. " _Why the hell are you still awake_?" He asked… less pleasantly.

Her eyes were blown wide as if she had been lying awake in bed for hours with thoughts swirling around her mind, until she gave into the pressure to get up to find him.

...Actually, _that's probably what she did_.

"Yuma." She repeated in a quiet tone. "I have… an idea."

" _What is it?_ " He groaned, because what else to do, but indulge your sleep deprived best friend when she starts to get those _1 AM thoughts_ and you physically can't fall unconscious.

but once she opened her mouth, Yuma wished nothing more than for the ability to just roll over, fall asleep, and forget she even suggested anything.

" ** _Let's steal a Trigger_**."

-0-

There was a brief pause as Yuma digested her words.

"' _Let's steal a Trigger_ '," Yuma repeated blandly. "That's what she says at 1 AM in the morning. ' _Let's go steal a Trigger_ ', she says, like this is completely normal. Maybe it's just the absurd hour that's getting to me, but I feel boundless exasperation." He paused for a moment before his red eyes shifted to stare at her. "Is this going to be a thing with you? You stole that C-rank Trigger too, _only you don't have a good excuse this time_."

"No, I've got… a reason," She murmured distractedly. "It's really important… I've been thinking about it since…" She trailed off.

" _Do you now_ ," Yuma humoured her lightly. "You don't look so good, maybe you can tell me in the morning. You should get some sleep."

" _We can't steal Triggers in the morning_ …" Mori mumbled. "We gotta do this now… I just need some… tea. _Or something_. A drink?"

"A drink." Yuma parroted blankly, getting up off the couch and nudging her towards the kitchen. "Well, if you insist. You can try to discuss the thought process behind any of… _this_."

"A drink… Can you pour me some milk?"

"Sure," Yuma chuckled slightly at his friend's drunken, tired state. "Just gimme a moment."

-0-

Mori set down the cup, glass now emptied of its contents as she took a deep breath.

"Ok." She sighed. "I feel more awake now."

Yuma hummed from the seat across from her. " ** _I'll bet_**."

"Alright, so about the Trigger thing," Mori coughed, leaning her cheek onto her palm. "I was half awake, but I meant to use the word ' _borrow_ ', instead of ' _steal_ '."

"Mhm," Yuma nodded blankly. "That makes this _**so**_ much better."

Mori jolted sleepily. "Wait, I've got an explanation. My thoughts were running around without my permission while I was trying to go to sleep."

"So?" Yuma looked at her, watching her eyes un-focus and re-focus in her tired state.

"Usami was talking about these Triggers," She started, slurring slightly at random parts, but slowly straightening out so Yuma could tell she was waking up. "The Bagworm."

"The one that hides you from the radar," Yuma filled in for his friend. "She told us about it after I tackled you."

"After I said I wanted the Meteroa," Mori groaned a little. "I still don't think I deserved that."

"You said ' _I want to blow shit up_ ' in all seriousness," Yuma replied nonchalantly. "I got worried for your sanity. Anyways, continue…?"

"Ok, so, the Bagworm." Mori waved her hands around drunkenly, gesturing at something Yuma couldn't see, or understand. "I want you and Replica to copy it."

He blinked, and a black blob formed up beside his head to join the conversation. "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, Replica. I forgot you were there." Mori blinked blearily. "I was thinking about HQ earlier."

Yuma tilted his head curiously, lips pursed. "What about them?"

"They've been awfully quiet about you lately…" She trailed off. "The way Jin-san was talking the other day… I didn't think they'd give up so easily."

"You don't need to worry about the two of us," Yuma grumbled, slightly scoldingly. "Replica and I can take anyone they send at us."

"…Still, I'm not sure. Why haven't they made a move to kill you yet?" She thought out-loud. "It's… almost as if they're waiting for something. But I don't know—"

She paused, and Replica and Yuma turned to give her a questioning glance.

"What is it?" He asked curiously, and she tilted her head upward as if to remember something.

"' _There's no need to shuffle units around_ '," She repeated Kido's words. "So they're hesitant on gathering too many units, especially for a Neighbour black Trigger."

"You can't blame them," Replica added. "Black Triggers are famous for their ability to _single-handedly_ turn the tides of war. You must be cautious with them, especially with an organization like Border, when most of the agents are relatively young… and have civilian families."

She hummed in acknowledgement. "So they'd need something strong… _some_ ** _one_** strong."

She froze suddenly, and her head snapped towards Yuma so quickly that he jolted in surprise.

"Yuma, _when did Shiori say that the away mission squads were coming back_?"

Yuma jolted, and Replica stopped bobbing mid-air for a brief moment.

Replica floated down to rest on the table, and his robotic, worried voice sounded out from wherever his voice came from. "She mentioned that they should have been back by yesterday… or the day before, considering that it's _2AM right now_."

Mori ignored the slight jab directed towards her, and her eyes widened as her voice came out in a whisper. "They were waiting for the top squads to come back," She whispered in horror. "They're going to send _all of the top squads_ _all at once_ _towards Tamakoma then, and they're going to kill you_."

"Now, now," Yuma gestured for her to sit down placatingly, tone easygoing. "Do you really have so little faith in me? There's no way they can chase me away, you know."

"That's not the point," She whispered worryingly, only grabbing his gesturing hand and dragging him towards the room holding the triggers as quietly as she could. "The point is that if you beat them up with your black Trigger, or get in a fight with anymore A-rankers, they'll never let you join Border!"

He paused in contemplation, before sighing. " _That's true_."

Mori nodded determinedly, no longer dragging him as he began to walk alongside her. "We gotta go copy the Bagworm for you, it'll be an easy way to get away from any fights peacefully. As long as you can run away properly."

"This is still a reckless idea." Replica commented dryly as he floated between our heads, evidently resigning himself to be the voice of reason between us two chaotic goods, but acknowledging that he has no power to stop us by force. "Copying a Border Trigger is easily identifiable if seen, and could get us into trouble anyway."

The two of them paused momentarily in our footsteps, before continuing at a slower pace. "That _is_ a problem."

"I think it's worth it though," Mori muttered. "It's better than you going into a battle with A-ranks, wearing a smug expression and basically yelling ' _I'm better than all of you_ ' before you start fighting."

"Would we do that?" Yuma asked Replica quietly, tilting his head to look at his robotic chaperone.

"…No comment." He only returned, much to Yuma's surprise.

"...Replica, I think you're taking after Mori a little too much," He muttered in betrayal. "You didn't make fun of me like this, _before_."

"You're too much like, Jin, I had to find _my own_ successor." She returned jokingly, patting Replica on the head with a small laugh.

-0-

"So, here we are," I muttered, walking along the aisle as I looked left and right for the right Trigger. "Bagworm, Bagworm, where is it…"

"Hard to see in the dark," Yuma commented, falling into step right behind me.

"Oh, here it is." I grinned slightly, stepping sideways to let Yuma see. "Right beside the—"

We both cut off as we stared at the small label taped to the Trigger right beside the Bagworm Trigger, just before our eyes slide sideways to each other and gained a maniac gleam.

" _Are you thinking what I'm thinking?_ "

He smirked, just slightly. " _Most definitely_."

Replica made something that sounded suspiciously like an exasperated sigh.

-0-

"And… It's up." I turned on the trigger, the long cloak draping around my Trion body. I barely noticed my tiredness flying away as quick as lightning, still too preoccupied with my excitement with our new idea. "Alright, do this one quickly so we can go onto the next one."

"One second," He gestured to Replica. "Go on. You need to analyze it first, I think."

Replica sighed again, louder this time, and bobbed in the air as he moved forward. "Roger."

Yuma activated his black Trigger in the background with a duck face, his black Trion covering his clothing and replacing it with the familiar black armour.

Replica stuck out his tongue for a few more moments, the end touching the Trion cloth wrapped around me. "Analysis complete."

He sucked the wire back up, before floating backwards and merging with the forearm of Yuma's black Trigger. "Seal has been set to ' ** _Omit_** '."

"Ooh, let's try this out," Yuma lifted up his hand, a new seal appearing with a strange circle pattern, and ' _X_ ' crossing through the middle as the kanji read ' _Omit_ '.

A pitch black cloak covered his shoulders, the outline and button holding the cloth together coloured a blood red colour that stood out in the darkness. His eyes widened in marvel, and he let out a quiet 'ooh'.

"That looks so cool. Do you _really_ regret this at all, Replica?"

" _Yes_ ," His voice rang out from Yuma's forearm. "Yes, I regret a lot of things. This is one of them, because Border will take offence to us stealing their Triggers."

"We're not _stealing_ them," I objected playfully, turning off the Trigger I was using before holding the other one that we looked at earlier into my hand. "We're _borrowing_ them. Besides, it's not even any of the offence-based ones."

He stayed silent, and I let out a small chuckled as a new trion body formed around me. "Oh, this is going to be so awesome."

"I second that," Yuma agreed with a glimmer in his eye, the copied Bagworm collapsing from around his form. "Shiori was so excited about telling us about this Trigger too, I'm super excited now."

"Well," I activated the trigger, feeling my Trion body shift as the changes were made. "Here goes nothing."

And with that, I disappeared into thin air.

"...Whoa, she was right," Yuma muttered from in front of me, looking right through me. "The _Chameleon_ really does make you invisible."

I lifted a hand up in front of me, seeing a small outline. "Not entirely. I can still see the edges, but only if I'm looking hard enough."

"Really?" Yuma squinted his eyes in my direction, before shaking his head. "I can't see anything."

"Either way," I giggled excitedly. "Replica, you're up."

"I have many regrets." The Trion soldier mumbled, a small black tube-like blob extending from Yuma's forearm, before the end formed some sort of pseudo-mouth-like form. There was an elongated pause before their mouth cracked open to speak. "Unfortunately, my analyzation is complete. Seal has been set to ' ** _Blend_** '."

Yuma lifted up his hand once more as a cloud-shaped seal appeared before he joined me in being completely unseen.

"…Oh, this is just as cool as I thought it'd be."

I covered my mouth with my hands and laughed as quietly as I could, the two of us trying to not wake anybody as we laughed freely.

-0-

"Jin, do you know where Mikumo is?" Shiori asked, somewhat worriedly. "She said she was staying over, but she's not of time in her room…"

Jin leaned on the doorway, looking considerably more well-rested( _not that the difference was noticeable_ ). He gave her a fond smile before lifting his finger to his lips, silently shushing her.

She blinked in surprise, before walking towards him and peeking through the doorway to the living room.

She paused abruptly before a small, soft smile formed on her lips as she drank in the sight of the two figures on the couch.

Mori was lying on the couch, head drooped down as she slept soundly on Yuma's shoulder. Their shoulders were touching, and her arm was wrapped around his own loosely as they shared the blankets.

At the sound of Shiori's quiet footsteps, Yuma cracked open a previously closed eye, having pretended to be asleep despite his inability to do so.

"Shiori, Jin." He greeted, voice a near whisper. "Please don't wake her up, _It took so much time to get her to finally fall asleep_."

Shiori gave a small giggle under her breath and pulled her phone from her pocket. "Well, you can't stop me from taking photos, can you?"

Yuma gave a one-sided shrug, doing everything in his power to move the least amount as possible and Jin laughed quietly while waving over to Shiori.

"Send me a copy, would you?"


	4. Trashy Innocence

"Sorry for sleepin' on you," I slurred, rubbing the sleepiness from my eyes as my other hand groped around blindly for my glasses.

"No problem," Yuma spoke up, from wherever he was and I could imagine his stuck out lips and lazily shut eyes as I listened to his voice. "I'm just glad you slept enough, after all of the… _excitement_ yesterday."

I nodded blearily. "About that," I pushed my glasses onto my face, at last, the world sharpening enough for me to see at last. "We should… _probably_ tell Chika everything we know. It'd be rude **_not to_** since she's our teammate now."

He hummed in agreement and as I glanced at him, true to my thoughts, his signature duck face was present on his face. "Probably."

" _That includes your Trion body too_." I cut in sharply. "And whatever could cause trouble for us in the future, it's important that she knows when the time comes."

He paused for a moment, but got up so quickly after that I decided to ignore it. "…Are you _sure_ you want to tell Chika?"

I nodded, finally wide awake as I lifted myself off of the couch. "Yeah, certain. **Chika** … Chika's stronger than we know. She deserves to hear the truth, you know?"

He nodded, and we both heard the robotic hum of agreement that came from Yuma's ring.

"I'll tell her then. Maybe we should have some sort of meeting spot, just so we're not overheard."

"A smart idea," Replica commented shortly.

I nodded, getting up to go to my own designated room to change. "You guys can come sleep over at my house today. Mom won't mind, she likes Chika **_a lot_** , although you're my friend, so she might bug you a little."

-0-

"Karasuma-san—"

"You can call me Torimaru," Karasuma interrupted politely. "Or Senpai, either is fine."

"Karasuma-senpai," I corrected. "Are there any available logs from previous matches with other teams?" I paused, a flash of the computer Shiori owned going through my mind. "Shiori-san showed us some short clips, but there were somethings I wanted to see in full detail and go over, _so I was just wondering_ …"

He nodded, before opening a nearby drawer and pulling out a USB key, handing it to me casually.

At my astonished expression, he shrugged. "Usami watches a lot of them on her free time, especially clips from her former team. Just return it before the end of the week, alright?"

I nodded excitedly, bowing slightly before jogging to the door to put the drive down by my sweater. "Thank you, Karasuma-senpai!"

"…You seem pumped up," Karasuma commented, staring at me from across the training room.

"Was it that obvious?" I wondered out loud, before shrugging at him with an almost unnoticeable smile. "I've got plans for today."

"Hm," He hummed, before pulling out his Trigger. "Are you ready to start?"

I nodded, pulling out the Meteora Trigger excitedly. " _Let's go!_ "

-0-

"Oh, Shiori," Jin waved to the glasses-wearing girl with a smile. "How're you?"

Shiori waved back excitedly, but her eyes never strayed from the screen in front of her. "Hi, Jin! I'm fine, what about you?"

"Good," He peeked over her shoulder with an easygoing grin. "Whatcha' looking at?"

"Torimaru and Mikumo are training." Shiori pushed up her glasses. "She's doing so well, _I'm so proud!_ It's the power of the glasses!"

" _Heh_ …?" His eyes scanned the screen absentmindedly before his eyes caught sight of Mori, who was running across the room while firing continuous Meteor, and causing the room to strain against the non-stop explosions.

What he saw though, was a flash of the future. Not anything bad, just… surprising, so to say.

" _Ooh_ … I'll have to tell her later." Jin mumbled, waving goodbye to Shiori as he strode out of the room casually, pushing a bit of speed into his steps as he headed over to the training room where Yuma and Konami were training.

-0-

I jumped to the left to dodge a gunshot, just before I ducked down to avoid another one.

I lifted my right leg up, before swinging it back down to stomp and jump away from a bullet that hit the wall a little too close for comfort. The Trion simulated wall shattered and blew up under the force of the bullets, and I shivered in slight fear.

"You're going to have to be quicker than that," Karasuma warned, hefting up the machine-gun like weapon. "Although I didn't expect you to be able to dodge that."

"Gee, _thanks for the vote of confidence_!" I called back over the wall snarkily.

I soon paid for the act of giving away my position, as I saw 5 more cannon-like bullets soar towards me.

I let out a clipped scream as I spun around the corner of a house, narrowly missing the large explosions that followed.

' _If you just kept your damn mouth shut, this wouldn't be an issue!_ ' I scolded myself in my head, jumping and sprinting away from the chaos that was behind me.

" _I'm fu_ — **_I'm screwed_**. _I'm so totally screwed_." I mumbled blankly, rocking back and forth with my arms locked around my knees. "This is how it ends. Shot down by a comrade, murdered by my mentor, without even properly learning how to fight for myself, no better than a _defenceless baby dee_ —"

' _Wait. Maybe I can get some help from Usami…?!_ '

"Usami? Could I please have some assistance?" I whispered curiously into my communicator, crouching down and curling up in a ball behind a wall as the loud echoing of explosions sounded from behind me.

"What do you need?" She replied cheerily. "Also, interesting monologue, _heh heh_ …"

"… _Let's set that aside for now_ ," I said embarrassedly, coughing into my palm as another explosion rang out, closer this time. "What can you do to help?"

"I can calculate trajectories, help find escape routes, verify Torimaru's position for you, adjust your Trigger settings manually… That last one is **_limited_** though," She listed enthusiastically, and I could imagine her pushing up her glasses proudly.

" _Huh, that's pretty cool_ ," I commented casually, trying to keep myself calm as the last explosion burst out from the area right behind my wall. Before I could be blown to kingdom come, I did a front roll and landed on my feet, already jogging away as calmly as I could just as the area where I had just been, joined the rest of the simulated city in ruin.

"It is, isn't it?" Shiori repeated, just before I hear a slightly distant typing from her end. "On another note, I've gotten Torimaru on your Radar, you know how to work that, right?"

"Yeah," I flicked my hand up absentmindedly, the translucent disk popping up with a red dot and a blue dot. Considering the blue dot was the one slowly moving away from the red dot, I could tell it was me.

" _It's super vague_." I murmured, and I heard Shiori chuckle over the communicator.

"It works." She paused. "I can increase the Radar precision for a few second in exchange for some Trion…?"

"With the training mode, we have infinite Trion, so go ahead." I grinned and formed a Meteora cube over my hand. "Well, I really wanna get a tie at least, **_so let's get to it_**."

-0-

"The fourth win is so hard," Yuma whined uncharacteristically, swinging his legs carelessly and sipping on his water obnoxiously with a duck face.

"You're actually not doing too bad, Yuma." Konami sniffed. "You're… pretty decent for a so-so."

" _So-so? That's all I am?_ " Yuma repeated, his legs pausing in their childish swinging. "Hm… I have a lot I have to improve on, then."

"That's right, you still have to get better to get at my level." Konami boasted proudly, holding her hands on her hips with a grin. "No. 3 attacker won't go down that easily, you know!"

Yuma blinked, before nodding. "Oh right, the rankings. I forgot about those for a second there…"

"Speaking of seconds, _can I borrow you for a bit, Yuma_?"

The two attackers turned their heads to the door questioningly, eyes locking into Jin, who was casually leaning against the door. He stepped over the threshold and into the room, his easygoing smile sliding into place as he waved at Konami pleasantly.

"What do you need?" Yuma questioned, putting his water down on the nearby desk.

Jin lifted up his hand, gesturing to his fingers subtly. "I gotta get Replica-sensei for something, and we need to go check something that I thought you might be interested in."

Yuma stood up off of the bench, brushing the non-existent dust off of his pants. "Did something hap—?"

A loud scream of joy echoed down the hallways, the loud volume cutting Yuma off and causing Konami to nearly topple over ungracefully, but she stabilized herself on the nearby desk at the last moment.

-0-

There was a moment of silence before Yuma leaned over sideways to look past Jin and to the door. He slapped his ear a few times since they popped, and cocked an eyebrow questioningly.

"…What just happened?"

Jin shrugged along with Konami, who had started towards the exit huffily, swinging open the door and stomping down the hall with Jin and Yuma not far behind.

"…Jin?"

The man in question shrugged with an infuriatingly lighthearted grin on his face, just as Konami threw the door open that leads to where the excited shrieking was coming from with a shout.

" _WHAT'S GOING ON IN HERE?!_ " She yelled, in a very Konami-like fashion.

The two boys peeked in from behind her, curiously trying to see what was happening in the room to cause all of the joyous screaming.

Shiori was shaking Mori back and forth happily, screaming excitedly. Even the girl being shaken herself was letting out a happy stream of mumbled words that no one could understand quite clearly.

Karasuma was standing off to the side, brushing off imaginary dust from his shoulders, staring at Mori with a small, nearly unnoticeable glimmer of pride in his eyes.

"AAAHHHHHH, THIS IS _GREEEAAAT_!" Shiori screamed happily, lifting up Mori in her excitement, whose eyes had suddenly widened as Shiori twirled her around in the air.

"Whoa, what happened?" Yuma asked, just as Shiori finally let Mori down, facing the shorter boy with a wide smile.

" ** _Miku finally got a win over Torimaru!_** " Shiori cheered, grabbing the Neighbour boy by the shoulders happily.

"' _Miku_ '?!" Mori repeated surprisedly, shock causing her to stand up straight with a slight blush.

" _She beat Torimaru?!_ " Konami shrieked, whirling around to face the brunette himself, who shrugged.

"It was a good plan," He muttered helpfully. "I feel a bit proud of how perfectly executed that was, she did well." He patted his student on the head absentmindedly, ignoring her embarrassed babbling.

" _It was by pure chance!_ " She protested in a rush, trying to bat away his hand half-heartedly. "Also, Shiori was helping me out!"

"That I was!" Shiori confirmed with a wide smile. "But you did all of the work! That was amazing, you were so quick!"

Mori waved her hands around wildly, eyes widening further as Shiori complimented her. " _I-I-I w-wasn't—!_ "

"Ah, so that's it!" Shiori cheered, pointing at me in a hyper frenzy. " ** _You're weak to praise, aren't you!?_** "

The was an elongated pause.

After a moment for that statement to sink in, everyone's heads turned slowly turned towards Mori.

Mori, whose ears were turning bright red as her lips wobbled as she tried to hide her obvious embarrassment as Shiori smiled excitedly at her.

" _Oh?_ " Yuma inquired smugly, breaking the silence.

"You **ARE!** "

" _Am N-NOT!_ " Mori protested, waving away Shiori's arms weakly as the older teen tried to pat her head.

"Oh hoh?" Jin reached over easily, his height giving him the advantage as he ruffled Mori's hair with a smug expression. "Aren't you?"

"N-no, I'm not!"

"Aw, you're adorable, Miku~!" Shiori cooed, taking advantage of Jin's distraction and swooping in, squeezing Mori's cheeks as they slowly turned red. " _You're getting all flustered~_ "

Konami watched worriedly as the younger female teen slowly turned a bright, flushed red before she became completely still in her mortification. "I-is she ok?"

"Oh, Konami, didn't you know?" Karasuma turned to her with a blank expression. "People can die if they get too embarrassed. It seems we'll have to pay for her funeral."

"EH?!"

"It was a lie, no worries," Jin cut in with a thumbs up, stopping the prank before it could get too far. "But anyway, since you guys are done fighting for now… _Could I borrow four-eyes and Yuma?_ "

"I don't see why not…" Shiori pouted, finally releasing the younger girl. "Well, we need to work together like that again sometime, Miku! You can be super destructive when you really want to, huh?"

"I-I'll think about it, Usami-san." Mori stuttered, pushing up her glasses and attempting to slap away the flush from her cheeks.

"Call me Shiori!" She glasses wearing teen said cheerily, just as Jin led the two other teens towards the door. She only received an embarrassed nod from Mori.

" _Ah, you were so red_ …" Yuma commented teasingly, poking Mori in the cheek as the blush came back with a vengeance. "And… ' _Miku_ '… huh?"

Mori slapped his cold hand away from her face with a scowl. " ** _Shush_**."

-0-

"So anyways…" Jin trailed off, leading the two teens to the living room, which was currently deserted. "I have something to tell you guys."

" _Do you now_ ," Mori commented, still slightly embarrassed from the scene earlier. This was apparent from the way she was still hiding her face in her hands.

"Well, it's more of a thing…" Jin hesitated, and the two younger teens nearly did a double take. "… ** _It's kind of important_**."

"Hm?" Yuma hummed, wordlessly encouraging for him to go on.

"…I think it'll be easier if I just come right out and say it," Jin finally settled. " _Mori has a side effect_."

Everyone in the room froze, eyes widening as they stared at Jin, unflinchingly.

" _What_." Mori finally choked out.

-0-

"We're going off now," I called out, my two teammates beside me.

"Bye~!" Yuma waved a hand across the doorway to Yotaro lazily, and the boy saluted back with a grin.

Chika bowed lightly with a small smile. "I'll be staying over at Mori's house today if you don't mind…"

"Alright, have fun you three!" Shiori cheered, patting Chika on the shoulders. "Don't get into any trouble!"

I snorted quietly, heard only by my two closest friends beside me.

"' _Don't get into trouble_ ', she says," I mumbled quietly, and a small chuckle came from my left, and a fondly resigned sigh from my right.

-0-

"Did you guys have something you needed to talk about with me?" Chika worriedly asked once we were out of range of the building. "Did I do something wrong?"

"What?! _No, no, no_ ," I reassured quickly, waving my hands around in a panic. "We just wanted to share something with you, and…" I trailed off.

"It's sort of important," Yuma picked up, hands linked around behind the back of his head, and signature duck face present. "We just had something to share… and wanted your input. Since you're our teammate. Also, Jin brought up something outrageous that we need to tell you."

"Oh," Something in her expression calmed, and her soft smile returned as she stared at the ground. "That's good… I was worried something was wrong since you two looked so serious."

" _It's kind of wrong_ …" I mumbled, before hastily correcting myself as her expression morphed into one of panic. "Not too bad! It's just something we need to think about, hopefully, we have some more time to prepare!"

"… _Probably not_ ," I heard Yuma mumbled quietly from my other side, and I jabbed him lightly to silently tell him not to worry Chika.

" ** _Subtle_** _, cold hands_ ," I whispered to him, and he flashed me a smug expression for god-knows-what-reason, before changing the subject.

"So anyway, where are we going right now…?" He linked his hands behind his head casually. "I'm just following you two, so I have no clue where we're headed."

"We need to go buy groceries," I muttered, loud enough for the two of them to hear. "Mom told me to go buy something for dinner since we have guests over."

"Ooh, that's exciting. The food here is so good… Like those ' _burgers_ '." Yuma licked his lips with a satisfied expression, and Chika laughed quietly.

"I'm thinking hotpot," I thought out loud, scrolling through my phone to read the texts from my mom. "Maybe we can even buy some ice cream, try out some new snacks since Yuma's around." I slowly turned to Chika. "Are you hungry at all, Chika?"

She paused, before scratching her head with a small tint of pink to her cheeks. "Maybe a little…"

"Snacks it is then," Mori settled, facing back forwards as the for market finally came into view. "There's probably some good stuff around here somewhere."

"There's a good Teriyaki place two blocks down…" Chika recalled softly, nodding towards one of the side roads in the market.

"Ah, you're right," I agreed, ignoring Yuma's confused glances between the two of us. "Or we could go grab Mochi. Isn't there a new sweets place over there that's trying to compete with Kanoya…?"

"Ah, you're right," Chika hummed, walking alongside me. "…We should probably get the groceries last, or they might get ruined while we're walking around with them."

"That's true, that's true…" I sighed. "Well, I'm not too sure about them quite yet, so let's not go there."

"What is this… ' _Kanoya_ '?" Yuma finally interjected, moving so that he was walking in between the two of us.

I gestured vaguely back in the direction where the Tamakoma branch is. "It's the place that Shiori gets the dorayaki from."

When Yuma perked up at the word ' _dorayaki_ ', Chika leaned over and gave him a small smile. "It's kind of expensive… but they have lots of other sweets, and it's really good."

"Oh how?" Yuma placed a finger on his chin, an excited sparkle in his eye. "' _Kanoya_ '… huh?"

"Honestly, I prefer savoury food," I muttered, scratching the back of my head absentmindedly. "I like croquettes… or udon. Although I'd never pass up yam tempura…"

"Hm… Tempura?" Yuma repeated, murmuring to himself. "So many new foods… The earth really is amazing…"

"Ah, over there." I grabbed the two shorter teens by their sweaters and jackets, tugging them to the left. There was a fairly average food stand painted with red and white stripes, set up right beside a building under construction. " _Taiyaki_. C'mon, let's get the food and get out of here."

"Do you not like crowds?" Yuma asked curiously, allowing me to drag him as I pulled them towards the food stand. "Or are you just mad about what happened earlier?"

"Earlier?" Chika inquired politely, tilting her head.

" _No, I'm not too mad about that_ ," I admitted quietly. "Jin doesn't know everything, all the time, so it's not like he planned this… _It was just so sudden, so I didn't know how to react…_ "

"Did something happen with Jin-san?" She asked, increasing her pace for a moment so that she could keep up with me.

"No— _Well, kind of_ ," I paused, trying to think of the proper words. "He kind of just… sprung something on us. so I don't really know what to do, or how it'll affect me quite yet."

"If anything, it's a good thing," Yuma commented nonchalantly. "We should probably go more in-depth about side-effects for Chika, she might be lost…"

Chika shook her head, turning to speak with Yuma as I walked up to the counter of the stand to order. "Usami-san explained them to me because I have high Trion. I… I think I have one too."

Yuma nodded. "Yeah, Mori _kinda_ figured, once we explained them to her. She's pretty smart in that aspect, huh?"

"Oi, don't go around saying stuff like that." I snuck up behind him, the bag of snacks in one hand as I delivered a swift chop to the head with the other. "We both know I'm the dumbest on the team."

He gratefully took the taiyaki that I held out to him with a pout. "You know, _you keep saying that_ …"

"Mori is sensitive to compliments," Chika commented, and I felt my face burn red for the second time today as Yuma's expression turned smug.

"See?" He gestured to Chika. "Even she knows it."

" _Drop it_ ," I hissed embarrassedly, chomping him in the head again as I held out the second taiyaki to Chika. "I am not sensitive."

He whistled innocently. "Alright, alright, if you say so~," He said, before biting deep into the fish pastry. He paused after a moment, chewing and swallowing as he pointed to the taiyaki with a satisfied expression. "You know… _this is really good_."

"It is," Chika nodded, taking small bites out of the treat. "Thank you for the taiyaki…"

"Oh, right." Yuma nodded to me half-politely. " _Thank you for this delicacy_ …"

I waved them off. "It's just a taiyaki, no big deal."

" _It's so tasty_ …" Yuma mumbled, stuffing his cheeks with the red-bean filled pastry.

"What did Kasumi-san ask you to pick up?" Chika questioned, our pace slowing slightly as I pulled up the texts on my phone.

"Ah… There's ground beef, green onions, salmon… fishballs, and rice noodles. She says she has most of what we need…"

"There's the store over there," Chika directed us towards the nearby building, and Yuma and I followed diligently. "They should have all of that."

"Hm… let's get this over quickly," I mumbled, patting the two of them on the heads absentmindedly. "It's getting kind of late."

I pulled the two of them away, just as Chika flinched under my hand and I heard a loud clatter from behind and upwards from my position.

I turned slightly, eye quirked confusedly. " _Huh_ — _?_ "

The was a blur of grey flying by my eyes and a loud slam, as a large steel beam fell from the sky and to the ground where the three of us were standing, not even a few seconds ago.

I stood stiffly, face paling drastically as everyone in the vicinity stared at our group in shock. Chika's hand had tightened into a fist around the cloth of my jacket, and Yuma was staring at the beam nonchalantly.

My pale face slowly turned upwards, as I glanced at the crane carrying multiple stacks of steel beams, presumably where the one at our feet had fallen from. My eyes widened further, as I saw one of them tip slightly and sway in the air.

" _Let's get the fuck out of here_ ," I whispered vehemently, pulling on their shoulders urgently as I stepped backwards.

Yuma sighed, a bead of sweat betraying his false-nonchalance as he allowed me to drag him. " _I feel like we're all just bad-luck charms_ …"

-0-

" _Mom… I'm home._.."

" _Thank you for inviting me_ …"

I paused, before quietly adding on to my greeting. "… ** _We totally didn't get into any trouble_**."

I slipped my shoes off at the door, tiredly walking through the hall towards the kitchen in my socks. Yuma and Chika followed not too far behind me, the latter more shy than the former.

"Mom? Where are you?"

" _Right here_."

Yuma and Chika jumped, frightened as a voice spoke up suddenly from behind them.

I spun around, facing my mother with a slight smile as she stood up straight from behind my two friends.

"…I'm home."

She nodded to me, a nearly unnoticeable smile present on her own visage. "Welcome back."

"…I'll put the groceries away," I offered before she shook her head and took the bags from me.

"Stay with your friends," She replied, stepping past me in the direction of the kitchen. "I'll come to talk to them in a moment."

"Alright," I led the two of them towards the doorway of my own room, waving back to her. "Actually… we need to talk about some stuff first, so could you just call us down for dinner?"

She nodded, before turning the corner to the kitchen, leaving the three teens alone as they stepped towards the door to Mori's own room.

Mori opened the door and let the other two in, shutting the door with a click.

-0-

Yuma stood there awkwardly for a moment, before glancing at Chika. "… _So it was her mom that she got the awkwardness from?_ "

I slapped a palm to my face, groaning as the hand dragged down slowly. "… **We're not awkward**."

" _You two barely communicated_ …?" Yuma mumbled out loud, pressing a hand to his chin as his legs crossed and he fell to the floor in one fluid movement. "And neither of you guys smiled…"

"It's not like there was much to smile about," I rebutted, collapsing onto my bed with a sigh. "Dear lord, the three of us are just unlucky aren't we…?"

"I'll say," Chika mumbled, seating herself down on the edge of the bed, beside me. "The first time we were together, _we were attacked by Border agents_ , the next time, _we nearly get crushed by a steel beam_."

"We were fine when we were in the Tamakoma building…" Yuma observed amusedly. "Maybe we just can't go outside altogether."

"Even two of us causes trouble," I groaned. "Yuma and I have gotten into _waaaay_ … **_too much trouble_** …"

"Speaking of trouble," Yuma mumbled, poking me in the leg. "We should probably start talking about the thing now…"

I ignored Chika's confused glance, sighing before sitting up. "The out-of-the-blue thing, or the dangerous thing?"

He paused. " _Out-of-the-blue thing_ first…?"

"Alright…" I slid off the side of my bed and onto the floor, gesturing over to Chika. "Let's sit on the floor for this… Well, I guess it all started with…"

-0-

 ** _"…I think it'll be easier if I just come right out and say it," Jin finally settled. "Mori has a side effect."_**

 ** _Everyone in the room froze, eyes widening as we stared at Jin, unflinchingly._**

 ** _"What." I finally choked out._**

 ** _Jin chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head. "I know, this is probably really sudden… But it was something I saw when I came to check on you during your match with Kyousuke."_**

 ** _"Actually, observed? Or with your side-effect?" Yuma asked curiously, patting my frozen form on the back reassuringly._**

 ** _"Eh… Honestly, both." Jin took a seat at one of the nearby couches, gesturing for us two to follow him. "Anyways, I don't want to give away TOO many nitty-gritty details, so I figured Replica-sensei could just check for you two."_**

 ** _My surprise morphed into incredulity. "He can do that?!"_**

 **Yuma made a so-so gesture, tilting his hand in both directions. "It can be pretty loosely checked for… but unless its a simple enhancement of the 4 senses, it'll be more difficult to diagnose it." He paused, just as a black blob formed itself from his ring. "Especially if you yourself didn't notice it."**

 ** _"Indeed."_** ** _Replica commented._** ** _"I can, however, get some more diagnostics from Jin… Due to the fact that he seems to be more aware of this than we are."_**

 ** _"Jin being sneaky isn't really anything new…" I ground out, sitting down tiredly at the nearby single couch. "Ok, how do you do this?"_**

 ** _Replica stuck out his tongue, similar to how the gauge looked for when they checked Chika's Trion level._** ** _"Please hold this, while I ask you some questions. I will also be using my previous knowledge to diagnose you so that we have more information."_**

 ** _"Go off, I guess," I mumbled, grabbing onto the wire loosely as a low whirring noise came from Replica. Yuma whistled casually and sat down on the couch next to me and directly across from Jin._**

 ** _"…Has anything ever seemed off to you?"_** ** _Replica began._**

 ** _"Oh, the classic '_ did you notice anything _'," I grumbled. "No, I didn'—"_**

 ** _I cut myself off with a sudden expression of dawning horror, and Yuma sat up suddenly. "Wait, you did notice something?"_**

 ** _I scratched my head, confusedly. "…There was ONE moment, but I just sort of forgot about it…?"_**

 ** _"How could you for—?"  
_**

 ** _"It was when Miwa squad attacked, not another word." I grit out, slightly embarrassed for my poor memory._**

 ** _Jin hummed. "I suppose I can't fault you for forgetting at the moment, a lot was going on at once…"_**

 ** _"There was," I reluctantly agreed. "It was when Miwa-san attacked Yuma, I could see his bullets."_**

 ** _"Oh yeah, that's definitely out of the ordinary," Jin commented with a laugh. "If the lead bullet Trigger wasn't equipped, then it should have been too fast for you to even see, much less in your flesh and blood body."_**

 ** _"That's pretty impressive," Yuma complimented with a small smile to me. "Same with when Yoneya attacked, huh? I heard you try to warn me."_**

 ** _"…Yeah, at that point too." I dragged a hand over my face with a low groan. "Man, I feel so dumb right now… Why does this happen to me?"_**

 ** _"It seems to not be an S-rank, nor an A-rank side-effect then,"_** ** _Replica commented._** ** _"The signs are pointed to Enhanced sight, however…?"_**

 ** _"Why would I have glasses if my sight was enhanced...?" I mumbled, voicing Replica's unsaid words. "That's definitely not it."_**

 ** _"But it's something to do with her eyes…" Yuma glanced to Jin for confirmation, who nodded leisurely. "Still, it's something that affects her eyes, which is super helpful in the long run for someone using bullets."_**

 ** _"Ah, I knew the Shooter position was meant for me…" I murmured happily, sinking into my seat. "The sound of explosions is just a bonus…"_**

 ** _"Calm down over there, explosion-happy-four-eyes," Jin grinned, adding more onto the nickname, much to my annoyance. "I'll give you guys a hint… Her side-effect helps with the information flow."_**

 ** _I paused, before sending him a disgruntled glance. "'_ Information flow _'…? What kind of crap hint is that?"_**

 ** _"…It's not as crappy as it seems," Yuma commented after a moment to think. "Something like… '_ Enhanced sight-to-brain connection _'… or sorts?"_**

 ** _"Of sorts," Jin confirmed with a smug grin. "Pretty cool for our little four-eyes, huh?"_**

 ** _"DO YOU HAVE TO CALL ME '_ FOUR-EYES _'?!" I finally blew up, standing up straight and out of the chair._**

 ** _Jin chuckled, before pausing and staring at me straight into the eyes. "You don't know what this means quite yet, but don't kill me, ok? Arashiyama squad was involved too, and it was all completely worth it."_**

 ** _"WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?!"_**

-0-

"…And so…" I finished. "Apparently I have a side-effect. That I have no clue how to flippin' use. _Yay._ ** _Go me_**."

Chika sat across me in silence for a few seconds, before nodding. "You've… always had unusually quick reflexes. Do you think that was what it was?"

"Wait, you mean when I caught that bookshelf that was about to fall on that little boy from a few years back?" I recalled in a questioning tone. "Oh yeah, now that I'm thinking about it… _there've been a ton of instances_."

" _A bookshelf?_ " Yuma mumbled, lost for a moment before he shook his head. "So Mori's been stupidly selfless her entire life, huh?"

"I am not!" I protested at the exact moment Chika nodded with a knowing smile.

" _She has_."

I froze at Chika's words, before slowly turning to her with a betrayed expression. "Chika, _you too_?"

She giggled slightly, and I sighed in unison with Yuma's cheerful laugh.

"Well, we should probably get to the next topic, before dinner's ready and all," I said, trying to keep my voice as impassive as possible. "To start… Yuma, you should probably explain first."

Yuma sobered up quickly and waited for a few moments to prepare himself before shuffling to face Chika.

"Chika… You know I'm a Neighbour, yeah?"

She nodded hesitantly, slightly worried but the sudden, seemingly out-of-nowhere heavy air.

Yuma hesitated, before opening his mouth. "I'm—"

-0-

There was a long pause, as Chika stared at the ground. Yuma and I were exchanging nervous glances, wondering if this was actually the right choice, to share this with her.

After a few minutes, I finally opened my mouth to speak. "Chika—"

" **I'm fine**."

My words froze, and my tongue felt like it was glued to the top of my mouth as she finally lifted her head up, staring at the two of us determinedly.

"I'm fine. Actually, _I'm so happy_ … That you two _trusted_ me enough to share this."

"There's no reason why we wouldn't—"

" ** _There is_**." She cut me off, trying to get her point across. " _You two_ … you guys are so close. I never understood… Mori, you've never been someone to trust someone so easily, to let them into your life, _to let them into your personal space_ , you've always been wary around people… **_ever since brother left_**."

My words choked up in my throat, leaving me silent.

"I didn't understand at all, but with no warning, one day you were walking alongside this white-haired boy, who you joked with, messed around with… you were smiling again, to someone who wasn't your mother, _or me_. And then, you so familiar with everyone at the Tamakoma branch, in such a short time. **_I didn't know what had changed, why this never happened before_** … what I did wrong."

I wanted to tell her so badly, that she didn't do anything wrong, _it was all my fault_ , but she had shocked me to silence.

"…But It wasn't that you had changed. It was because Yuma was here, _wasn't he_?" She paused, nodding to Yuma gratefully. "He was there, and while I don't know exactly what you two consider each other, what your relationship is exactly… I'm so happy. I thought it was something that I couldn't have a place in, something that I should never intrude in. And here you two are, trusting me with important information like this… _I can't help but feel happy_."

Yuma, who had been silent all along, finally spoke up. "… _Chika, I_ … Even though it's been such a short time, I consider you one of my greatest friends. And… I could never lie, much less about **_something like that_**."

Chika nodded, her eyes wobbling. I worried for a brief moment, that she would cry before she shook her head determinedly and looked up at the two of us with fierce determination in her eyes.

"…For putting your trust in me, you two… You'll never regret it. **_I promise_**."

And at that moment, I knew I could no longer consider her my ' _fragile_ ' sister-like figure. She was my teammate now, she was a fighter, and it was about time I acknowledged it.

"…I know I won't." Yuma finally spoke clearly, turning to the two of us with a proud grin. "The three of us are going to be amazing. _Partners_."

I nodded, slapping myself in the cheek quickly to snap myself out of my awe. " ** _Partners_**."

Chika smiled, copying our nods. "…There's one thing I want to ask before we continue," She murmured, facing me with a slight tint of pink on her cheeks.

" **Can I call you… ' _Big sister_** '?"

I froze in surprise but seeing a slightly panicked expression take over Chika's expression, I hurriedly reassured her.

" _I-I'd really like that!_ " I said, in just a pitch too high that made Yuma laugh at me as quietly as he could safely manage. " _I would really like that_ … I just w-wasn't expecting something like that just now… C-can I call you… ' _Little sister_ '…?"

Chika smiled at me. "… **I'd like that**."

"… _You two are too adorable_ ," Yuma murmured, and my head whipped around to him as my blush grew larger. "Just too cute… it's amazing that you two weren't already calling each other that before I met you…"

" _T-things came up!_ " I defended, digging my hand into my pocket. "And now that all of that's over, we still have to get to the third part!"

Yuma nodded, and I slipped the USB that Karasuma had given me from my pocket, holding it up in front of me with a slight grin. "I got all of the logs that I could manage from Karasuma-senpai! We can use these to determine how to take down our enemies!"

"Enemies?" Chika repeated, and Yuma turned to explain.

"Not only are more Border agents going to come after us because of me, but we're aiming for the number one spot, so we're bound to end up fighting most of them at some point."

My excited posture immediately drooped. " _Did you have to bring that up again?_ "

He gave me another smug grin, repeating his words from yesterday in a true Yuma-like fashion. "' _Only the finest_ '."

Chika giggled at the two of us, and I sighed wearily. "I think dinner's gonna be ready soon, so let's just… _make a list first_. We'll go over the video clips and possible strategies afterwards."

"During the actual sleepover part of the night?" Chika filled in for me, and I gave her a proud thumbs up.

"That's my little sis, you're learning well…" I praised her comically, earning another amused chuckle from both her and Yuma.

"What do you even do during a ' _sleepover_ '?" Yuma questioned, not having known due to the bigger part of his life being spent fighting in a war or travelling with only his father and Replica for company.

"Uh…" I hesitated. "I've only ever had sleepovers with Chika and Rinji, so… I don't have too many examples. I guess we just hang out in our pajamas?"

"Sometimes you share snacks, or watch a movie together," Chika listed, always the most helpful out of the three of us. "It really depends on what's most fun for the people…"

I paused, before turning to the two of them. "Do you either of two have a problem with watching logs and strategizing…? I'm pretty sure it can be sort of boring at times…"

" **Then we'll have to make it fun** ," Yuma replied in a matter-of-fact tone, and the simplicity of his answer made me smile. "Besides, it's not just us three."

Chika and I blinked in honest confusion, just before Replica formed in the air beside Yuma.

"Greetings, Chika, Mori."

"Replica!" I patted his robotic form with a content grin. "Now we have the whole group, _this is great_ — _!_ "

I cut myself off, my expression dropping slightly.

"What?" Yuma quirked an eyebrow at me and my loud sigh cut through the air.

"Aw…Replica can't be with us during dinner, with my mom there…"

"It's not an issue," Replica reassured. "I will still be present and can speak with Yuma, unnoticed. And I am free to assist when you are discussing after the meal."

"Oh, that's good," Chika smiled brightly at us. "I was worried there for a minute, it's so nice when all of us are here together, huh?"

I squinted, leaning over to whisper to Yuma. " _God, she's too bright_."

" _Too precious_ ," Yuma agreed easily, eyes shut.

" _My visual receptors have stopped functioning_ ," Replica commented, bobbing in the air beside Yuma's head.

" _Eh?_ " Chika blushed slightly, staring at the three of us in surprise.

"Ah, nothing, nothing," I waved casually, grabbing around my desk of a piece of paper and a pencil, bringing down said items to the ground with us. "Alright, so to start…" I wrote down the first name. " **Tachikawa Kei** … No. 1 attacker, as well as the leader of the No. 1 squad, according to Shiori-san."

"Ah, _dangerous, dangerous_ ~" Yuma grinned proudly. " ** _Though Replica and I could probably take him_**."

"Not without your black Trigger," I commented dully. "Also, Konami-san, according to Shiori-san, is the No. 3 attacker… If you can't beat her with a Border trigger, you have no chance of beating Tachikawa."

" _Eh_ …?" He nodded in begrudging agreement. "I suppose I can't quite yet… But rankings aren't everything, you know."

"That's true," Chika nodded to Yuma's comment. "Usami-san told me that somebody's rank can be lowered as punishment for disobeying orders… So there could be some really skilled people hiding in the lower ranks."

"Good observation, _as expected of the great Chika and Yuma_ ," I grinned just slightly. "Well, Tachikawa's also apparently been able to beat Jin when they both had normal Triggers, so let's just go off on a limb and say that he's deserving of his rank… Don't underestimate him, _or you'll die_."

Yuma whistled. " _I won't_ , _I won't_ ~"

"Good," I settled, writing down the next name. "So, also… **Kazama Soya**. One of the top attackers, rank not yet determined, leader of the No. 3 squad."

"Oh yeah, Shiori didn't specify what rank he was, did she…?" Yuma trailed off with a silent question.

"She did not," I confirmed for everyone in the room. "I'll go off and assume that he's the No. 2, or 4. Since he's gone on the away mission, he's obviously got some serious skill that can't be ignored." I paused with a shudder. "Jesus, _Yuma's probably the only one that can go against most of these people_ …"

Yuma shook his head. "Don't get so down about this, it's not something so easily comparable. _Just think of it like this_ ; you two just need to get better so that you can go against these people when it counts."

"Good point," Chika admitted. "But the two of us still have a long way to go before we can fight alongside you."

" **Probably** ," I chuckled slightly, relaxing beside my closest friends and family. "I'll have to work a lot harder then. So, next…"

I scribbled out another name. "She said the amazing shooter guy was ' ** _Izumi Kohei_** '… right?"

"Yeah," Yuma confirmed. "The guy that was in the most of the shooter Trigger clips she showed us."

"He's definitely someone to be careful of…" I sighed. "Why do we have to fight all these skilled people…?"

" _Because we're aiming for the No. 1 spot_ ," Chika replied, so suddenly and so confidently that I froze on the spot before turning to shoot Yuma an accusing glance.

"This is all your fault. I'll never be free of this fate now, we'll be aiming for No. 1 _for the rest of our lives now_."

Yuma chuckled, causing me to shake my head in exasperation, Chika giggled quietly as Replica let out a robotic sound that might've been a chuckle. "The four of us are all horrible influences on each other." I paused before adding a quick, " _Except for Chika_."

" ** _Chika's not a bad influence on anyone_** ," Yuma admitted shamelessly. "So, who's next on the list?"

"Well, until we go through the logs that I got from Karasuma-senpai, we aren't going to know most of them…" I scrunched up my face. "We didn't even get to see any snipers. Shit, snipers scare me the most, I wish Shiori told us about them more."

"Why do snipers, of all positions scare you?" Replica asked curiously.

My head whirled over in their direction so quickly that I heard my neck crack ominously. " ** _Dude_** ," I whispered vehemently, eyes darting around as Chika's gaze sharpened. " _They have guns that can shoot you from miles away, they're literally out of an average attacker and-or shooter's range, and if they're skilled enough, can still excel at close combat_." I shivered, paling drastically. " _Snipers are dangerous, man_. _Jesus_ — wait, speaking of snipers, we can add Miwa squad to the list…!"

I glanced down at the paper, scribbling out the three names of the squad members. " **Miwa Shuuji** , **Yoneya Yousuke** , **Narasaka Toru** , and **Kodera Shohei** …" I groaned. "I'm pretty sure they're relatively high ranking since Miwa was standing beside Kido during the meeting, and definitely part of the ' _Kido faction_ ' that Jin was talking about…" I paused, before directing my question to my partners. "Do you guys have anything to add? Guesses on their squad ranking maybe?"

"Hm…" Yuma hummed. "In terms of ranking… they're probably top ten, at least. _They were good_ , just like Jin said at the time."

"Based on what you guys told me…" Chika began, unexpectedly speaking up. "Arashiyama squad, the PR squad, is No. 5, right? With Tachikawa squad as No. 1, and Kazama squad as No. 3… in terms of the top ten, **_that leaves No. 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10_**."

"Oh, narrowing it down! Good job, sis." I nodded in pride. "But that still leaves a lot…" I paused. "Wait, I think I heard Karasuma-senpai and Jin-san talking about the _No. 6_ and _No. 4_ squads being out of town for some missions, or something or other."

Yuma clapped approvingly. "That leaves No. 2, 7, 8, 9, and 10."

Chika and I turned to Yuma and Replica. "What do you guys think…? You guys were the ones that were fighting them."

Yuma let out a long, drawn-out hum as he thought. "Well… This is a loose assumption, _but I'd assume_ ** _7_** _, or_ ** _8_** _._ "

"Oh?" I inquired.

"From the clips I've seen of the No. 2 attacker, Kazama Soya," Yuma began. "I don't think that Miwa could beat him… Yoneya neither. And there's still the factors of Kazama's teammates, they could be just as dangerous as Kazama himself."

Chika nodded in agreement. "A side-effect or a unique Trigger is a possibility…"

I snapped my fingers multiple times as I tried to recall anything of importance. "Shiori-san did say that A-rank squads have more privilege in terms of Trigger modification, so yeah, _that could be dangerous_."

"Wait, do you think that Reiji's squad is anywhere on the leaderboard?" Yuma asked casually, Kizaki's first name slipping out his mouth without any trouble. "Cause if so, **_they'd definitely be the No. 2, to fill in the blank_**."

I pursed my lips uncertainly. "…Karasuma-senpai's Trigger seemed a little too specialized, even for an A-rank squad… Besides, Tamakoma seems to act as a _completely different_ force than Border at times…"

"I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't allowed to be part of the rankings just because of that," Replica added. "From what I've seen from Yuma's spars with Konami, it seems like her Trigger… has more Neighbour technology than Border would normally allow."

"You don't think Border would like that…? That's a good point." I mumbled. "So let's just assume there's another squad we don't know about, that takes up the No. 2 spot. So that leaves Miwa squad in…"

" _No. 7 or 8_ , just like Yuma assumed." Chika filled in. "Still too high for either of us to deal with."

I groaned. "Yeah, yeah, I know… We can't really deal with any of these people… On the flip side, Shinoda-san seemed against going after you, Yuma, so I think we don't have to worry about Arashiyama squad any time soon."

"Oh, that's good." Yuma's eyes sharpened slightly. "Although I wouldn't have minded beating Kitora."

I turned to him, slightly disturbed. " _Why do you even hate her?_ I don't get what happened between you two…"

Just as Yuma was about to open his mouth, a sharp knock echoed from my doorway.

" ** _Time for dinner_**."

-0-

"Ooh, what's this?" Yuma asked curiously, stepping into the kitchen in front of me.

"Hotpot," I replied, before turning to my slightly confused mother. "Kuga Yuma, foreign, doesn't know too much about Japan."

"Ah, I see." She nodded to Yuma. "If you have any questions, Kuga, please don't hesitate to ask."

"Oh?" He bowed just slightly. "Thank you for your hospitality…"

"Well, let's go eat…" I pulled out a chair for my friends, giving the two of them a questioning glance. "Do either of you two want anything to drink?"

"Water is fine," Chika shyly replied, and Yuma gave me a carefree wave.

"Same for me."

"Alright," I grabbed four cups from the cupboard, filling all four of them up with water, pulling an ice tray from the freezer to drop a few into my own glass.

"So," I heard my mother begin from the other room, sitting down across from my two friends. " _When and how did you meet Mori,_ ** _Kuga_**?"

I groaned quietly in slight embarrassment.

Yuma replied quickly. "We're classmates, the teacher told her to help me find my way around… and stuff."

"And stuff," Mom repeated, before nodding as I set down the glasses, sitting down and taking a long gulp of my own water glass. "I see. So are you the reason she's decided to join Border?"

I turned my head to the side sharply and choked, erupting into a coughing fit that made Chika get up and rub my back with a worried expression.

"Maybe," Yuma ignored my suffering. "I personally think it was a decision that Chika made, that convinced Mori. _But then again_ , I can never be sure about what she's thinking."

Mother nodded, also nonchalantly turning away from my choking. "That is true, **_she seems to run off and do whatever makes the least sense to everyone around her_**. Can I trust you to keep an eye on her then?"

Yuma nodded certainly, just as I let out one last cough and turned to the two of them with a bewildered expression.

" **To the best of my ability**."

Mom waited for a moment, scanning his expression before nodding in acceptance. "Good."

Yuma grinned at her cheerfully, before reaching over and grabbing his glass of water as if the previous conversation never existed.

Now that I was confirmed, not going to die, Chika nodded to herself and sat back down as I blinked at everyone in honest confusion.

"… _What the hell?!_ "

Chika giggled, while Mom sent me a disapproving glance for the language.

-0-

I lifted up one finger.

"Ok, I'm going to go shower. You three will not move from this fucking—"

"Language," Replica dryly reprimanded.

"— _flippin_ ' spot. You will sit right there, and not move a muscle. Understand me?"

Yuma pouted. "Boring. I'll have nothing to do."

I sent him a sharp glare, before disappearing around the corner.

-0-

"— _Aaaaaaaand I'm back!_ "

I slid down the hall with my socks, coming to a perfect stop right in front of my open bedroom door.

Yuma blinked, sitting cross-legged on my bed. "Wow, you did that in five minutes."

"Alright, no one moved?" I glanced at the three figures suspiciously. "No steel beams fell from the sky? Jin didn't come out of the shadows being a creep, as per usual?"

Chika glanced at me worriedly. "Were you that worried we'd get in trouble…?"

"No Neighbour gates opened nearby? _Yuma didn't activate his black Trigger and go running around like a maniac?_ ** _Nothing—?_** "

"Nothing happened." Replica blandly intoned, and Yuma let out an amused chuckle. "As much as it seems otherwise, I am capable of making sure Yuma will stay in one spot and not cause trouble."

"…Alright, _onto the next matter_ …" I switched the topic quickly.

"You really have no faith in me?"

Chika gave the Trion soldier an embarrassed smile, and Yuma grinned at him smugly.

"…I see how it is."

"Here's my computer…" I pulled said electronic from where it was plugged in at my desk, keeping it at an arms distance away so the water from my hair didn't drip onto it. "Let's get cracking on these videos, shall we?"

"Oh, your hair is still wet," Chika waited until I had set the computer in front of us, before grabbing my towel and swiftly beginning to dry it for me.

"Whoa, you don't need to!" I protested, trying to stop the towel from moving. "It's fine how it is, _I don't need it dried!_ "

"You'll get a headache if I don't," Chika scolded, and her action of kindness caused me to pause and let her do as she pleased.

Yuma paused, staring at the two of us before sighing. "Shiori was right all along… _Chika's the true ace here_ …"

"I can't even deny it," I chuckled, feeling the towel finally released from my head and drop down to my shoulders, my hair much drier than before. " _Chika's just too amazing for us_."

"Eh? Oh, no, you two are much better than I am," Chika blushed, patting us on the head. I took the gesture of affection with a small smile, feeling safe in the company of my teammates.

"Enough of the flattery," Yuma joked. "We still have a bunch of clips to watch, don't we?"

"Ah, that's true…" I trailed off. "Lemme grab my list again, for new people to add."

"Here you go," Chika held out the paper to me with a smile, which I took gratefully.

"Alright…" I plugged the USB into the computer port and watched the files upload onto my screen. Clicking on the icon, I scrolled through what seemed like millions of files named various surnames, squad names, random numbered files, etcetera.

"Oh _Jesus christ_ ," I whispered, shuffling back slightly so Chika and Yuma could look over from both sides of me to see all of the text. "I don't think we can get through all of this in one night, and I don't know what's important or not."

Yuma whistled. "There's more than I thought."

"I should have been expecting this…" I mumbled dejectedly. " _I need to get used to expecting the unexpected, or else I'm going to be a_ ** _horrible leader_** …"

" _Don't say that_ ," Chika murmured to me, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder. "You're going to be an amazing leader, that's why we picked you. Because it was what was the best, and the only way we would have gone."

"… _What she said_." Yuma repeated cheekily.

"Good talk," Replica blandly stated, in such a deadpan tone that I snorted and nearly choked.

"Oh my god, _you guys are the best_ ," I chortled, reaching over to begin scrolling. "We should probably get started on the people that we don't have quite yet, right?"

-0-

"Oh, right there," Chika pointed to a small string of numbers beside a typed out ' _Kazama_soya_ ', along with a number at the end to differentiate it from all of the others just like it. "I think that means ' _rank No. 2_ ', for his solo attackers ranking…"

"Oh, good catch." I complimented as I scribbled out a jot note reading as ' _no. 2 attacker_ ' below his name. "There, we can start putting together a proper list now… Oh, here's a video of the No. 2 team, Fuyushima squad."

Yuma pouted as I clicked on the file, waiting for it to load. "So it's true, Konami's team really doesn't count towards the rankings… _what a shame_."

"They still have solo rankings though, which, I don't know how on earth that works," I groused. "Teamwork is just as important as solo skill, so it's possible that they're even stronger than Tachikawa squad… God, I wish we had a proper list for this that wasn't so flawed…"

"It is a shame since that means they don't participate in any Rank wars…" Chika trailed off. " _I sort of wanted to watch them in action_."

"It seems like it would be a sight to see," Replica agreed, sinking down in the air to rest on the coffee table beside my computer. "Especially with the unique Triggers, the combinations between the three of them could prove to be interesting."

"It's done loading," I said shortly, watching intently as…

I paused.

"… _What is even happening there?_ " Yuma verbalized for me, carefree expression screwing up as he squinted at the screen.

"…I see some markings… wait, that's their squad symbol." I scratched my head while grumbling. "It looks like some sort of teleporting Trigger, which I didn't know existed. And I think the guy taking out literally everyone is the team sniper… **Touma Isami** , according to the files."

"He's hitting all of them directly in the head. Dead centre," Chika observed calmly, but there was a hint of worry in her tone. "…He has to be the top sniper, my memory's a bit fuzzy from Yuma's fight against Miwa squad, but… _I don't think that either of their snipers were this good._ "

"There were two, the nervous looking one, and the emotionless guy. Kodera Shohei and Narasaka Toru… I think the latter is more skilled." Yuma rocked back and forth, recalling the details of the battle casually. "He's the one that blew off my arm, I'd say he's one of the top snipers too, but not as good as this guy."

" _This guy is aiming with the intent to kill_ ," I said with false cheer, a bead of sweat going down my neck. " _Lovely_! _My greatest nightmare_. This guy doesn't even shoot in an annoying way like the other two snipers were doing, every time he shoots…"

"…He's aiming for a kill, and that's nearly always what he gets." Replica finished for me. "If there's someone he doesn't finish off, it's usually because he got greedy and went for two opponents at once. But he always manages to get one, every time."

The video played again, showing a focused sniper shot go clear through the opponents head.

"Ok, but he's not the captain," I commented, gesturing at the file names. "The No. 2 squad is called ' _Fuyushima_ ', which means that their captain…"

Yuma nodded. "The one doing all of the fancy traps and teleporting stuff. But that's only two of them, is that even allowed?"

I sighed in aggravation, dragging a hand through my hair. " _I hate all of the nitty-gritty details_ … can't we just aim for a comfortable space in the lower ranks? I don't really want to try so hard, or else people are going to expect decent results from me…"

"Oh c'mon, you know I wouldn't be satisfied with just a low rank," Yuma said cheerily, and Chika gave me an embarrassed smile to show her support for his decision.

I groaned. " _Moving on_ …" I clicked on another video and wrote out a quick ' **Touma Isami** ' and ' **Fuyushima Shinji** ' on the paper. "Kazama squad, the entire team this time."

There was a few flashes on the screen, and as we scanned the clips, I realized that Shiori had saved the most Rank wars and recorded fights for this team.

"… _I think they're doing something_." Yuma began, snapping me out of my thoughts. "They're super in-sync, it's kind of creepy. And they don't really pay as much attention to what's in front of them…?"

I narrowed my eyes at the clip, searching for something that I couldn't quite yet understand. "I think the guy with the ponytail is the one that's doing most of the work," I mumbled, noticing his laid-back expression… as if he knew what he was doing. "Kazama's without a doubt the most skilled out of all of them, but the ponytail guy is definitely doing something, _and I don't know what_." I paused. " ** _That kind of pisses me off_**."

"…I think it's a side effect," Chika commented. "I don't have too much of a concrete reason, but it's just a feeling." She paused, before turning to me with a slight smile. "Big sister always told me to trust my gut feelings."

"Atta' girl," I sent her a thumbs up, before writing down the two names on the files. " **Utagawa** … **Ryo** … **Kikuchi** … **hara** … **Shiro** … Possible… side effect…" I capped my pen again. "Ok, got that down—"

"Actually, Mori," Replica began, cutting me off slightly. "I was thinking, have you not considered asking Usami about all of this? She's clearly with more knowledge of HQ than us and is still part of the team. She could provide you with most of the information you lack."

I paused, my mouth shutting promptly as I struggled to word my thought process.

"…You're right, Shiori-san's much more experienced than us… in terms of things like this."

Replica bobbed slightly as if to nod while Chika and Yuma glanced at me curiously.

"She was once a part of HQ, and was the operator for a high ranking squad, and is now being the operator for our own, _all because Jin asked her to_." I paused. "I don't want to feel like she's dragging us along by the hand, I want… ** _I want to be a good leader for you guys_** …"

I turned away from them, slightly embarrassed for my reasoning. "Or _… something like that_ …"

"That was pretty cool of you to say, leader," Yuma teased, and I scowled light-heartedly as Chika giggled. "You 'ought to be inspiring like that more often, maybe then people will believe that you're as badass as I know you are."

" _I'm not badass_ ," I protested with a chuckle and a blush, reaching over and ruffling his hair playfully. "It's just your eyes going bad, maybe you'll need glasses like me."

"… **That would be weird** ," He admitted before his voice lowered into a thoughtful whisper. "Can Trion bodies even get bad eyesight…?"

"I would think not," Replica reassured fondly. "If there is no growth, I would assume that it would not deteriorate either… also factoring in the Trion regenerating that you possess."

"That's true," He agreed, leaning sideways and onto my shoulder. "Anyways, who's next?"

"Ok, so with the fact that the No. 6 and 4 squads are still out and about, let's forget about them for now…?" I grabbed a pillow from my bed behind me and handed it to Yuma. "I don't think we need to bother with Arashiyama squad and Miwa squad quite yet—"

Yuma lifted up a finger and opened his mouth.

"—Yes, _I know_ , **_we're aiming for No. 1_** _, so we should watch them anyways_ , I don't care. I don't want to do this all night."

He shut his mouth and gave me a cheeky grin.

" _Wipe that smirk off your face_ ," I threw another pillow at his face. "I'm still trying to figure out how to make sure these people don't attack us before we get you properly registered for Border…"

"Oh yeah, _that'll be fun_." Yuma's sarcasm was not appreciated. Though at least it made Chika laugh.

"We should probably consider other options, other than simply fighting all of them off until registration day," Replica suggested. "Running away or hiding were some good ideas, but they won't help us to not get turned away at the door either."

"I think Jin-san has something planned for that, but _just isn't telling us_ ," I grumbled in an annoyed tone. "There's no way he'd go through all of the trouble to get us to join Tamakoma if there was **_no_** way to register Yuma, _right_?"

Chika nodded with a thoughtful hum. "Jin-san always seems to be prepared for everything."

"This doesn't make sense though," Yuma wondered with a carefree duckface. "They came back the day before yesterday, why haven't they attacked yet? The sooner, _the better it would've been for them…_ "

"And it's not like we can just write it off as them being dumb," I added. "All of the clips we just watched showed most of them to be pretty intelligent in terms of strategy, and there's no way Kido-san would've made it to being the commander of Border is he was a **_moron_**."

Chika hummed. "You said that if Yuma joins Tamakoma, the balance would tip, _but if Jin-san already has a black Trigger_ …" She trailed off, and Yuma and I gave her a curious glance.

"You good?"

She blinked, turning back to the two of us in shock. "… _If Jin already has a black Trigger_ … and HQ _willingly_ let Tamakoma have control over it… that's implying that they have **_a_** **_black Trigger of their own_**."

I froze.

Just before systematically falling backwards, grabbing a pillow, and pressing it to my face as I let out a muffled scream.

Yuma scratched his head in a sheepish manner after I broke the uncomfortable silence. "Man, I can't believe that didn't occur to me earlier… But still, why wouldn't they just send them to deal with me then?"

"Perhaps the black Trigger is too destructive to risk letting loose on Tamakoma," Replica gave his own input. "It would look bad to the public if a black Trigger was responsible for any destruction to the city, and even more so if the destroyed area is a Border's branch office."

"That's true…" I shifted the pillow off of my face and sat up again. "But that leaves HQ with one black Trigger, _there's still no way that they'd let Tamakoma get out of this feud with possession of two black Triggers_ —"

I cut off with a strangled cough as a vivid, clear memory flew through my mind.

"Mori?"

" **Oh, _that bitch_**." I choked out.

-0-

 ** _Jin chuckled, before pausing and staring at me straight into the eyes. "You don't know what this means quite yet, but don't kill me, ok? Arashiyama squad was involved too, and it was all completely worth it."_**

 ** _"WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?!"_**

-0-

"He didn't have fucking Fujin with him when we were talking," I mumbled out loud, my thoughts running through my mind at the speed of lightning. "It's way too precious to him, _there's no way he'd just put it down, so he definitely gave it up, since there's no way that HQ would let us have more than one black Trigger._ ** _Oh, I'm going to murder hi_ — _!_** "

My annoyed ramblings were cut off as a black blur was launched at my face, courtesy of Yuma.

I coughed as I fell backwards, my back impacting against the wood floor as Replica rolled over, from where he had slammed into my face.

There was a tense pause.

"… _Are you alright now?_ "

I coughed. "Yeah, _one second_. Sorry about that."

Replica hovered into the air, setting himself up right before falling back down to rest on the table once again. " _Please do not throw me at your friends again_ , Yuma."

" _No promises_ ," I heard the white-haired boy mumbled under his breath, just as I sat up.

I turned to Chika and bowed my head slightly. "I apologize for cursing…"

She waved her hands in a reassuring manner. "It's no problem, it happens all the time. Besides… _I'm somewhat disappointed with Jin-san too_."

The silence returned, but Yuma was the one to speak up this time. "… ** _Did he really have to?_** "

"He did it anyway." I sniffed. "So _that's_ why no one attacked, he's already made peace with the higher-ups. _I just can't believe that guy_ …"

"…Do you two want to go to bed?" Chika suggested meekly. "I understand you guys are upset with Jin for giving the Fujin up for your sake when it meant so much to him… but maybe we can keep watching the clips tomorrow."

I thought about it for a moment, sitting up to give her a small, short hug. " _Sorry for bothering you,_ Chika."

"It's no bother at all," She reassured, hugging me even tighter before I could let go. "I'm sorry that this is how it all had to work out…"

"…Let's just prank him when we get back." Yuma suggested with a small smile. "So many pranks, that he just can't predict them all with his side-effect."

"Yeah, that's a nice idea," I admitted quietly. " _I promise I won't kick him down the stairs_ …"

" ** _Good_**." Chika and Replica spoke in unison.

-0-

A/N -

I'm so thankful for the interest that people have taken in this…! I hope that you all have lovely days, I don't deserve any of the support I've received!

On another note, I'm trying to make weekly updates that are a decent size, and it seems to be falling on a Saturday for the past few chapters… so for as long as I can keep up this schedule, that's something to look forward to!


	5. Best Of Me

_(And… Just like Jin said…_

 _The day came, before they knew it.)_

-0-

 ** _"Oh, by the way, four-eyes!"_**

 ** _"Wha— GAH?! STOP MESSING WITH MY HAIR YOU GODDAMN—!"_**

 ** _"Remember four-eyes, don't let other people bring you down. They've got no right to undermine how good you feel, you feel me?"  
_**

 ** _"Where the hell is this coming from all of a—?!"_**

 ** _"Also, remember! Nine seconds!"  
_**

 ** _"WHA—?!"_**

-0-

 _January Eighth, official Border enlistment day._

-0-

"Alright… Let's get started."

Yuma gripped his fist excitedly, his lips curling into a grin as the three of us faced forward, all wearing C-rank uniforms.

"Oh god, I can feel the cold, dead hands of anxiety grabbing and strangling me," I muttered, half serious and half joking.

"But I'm not touching you," Yuma joked lightheartedly, lifting up both gloved hands, causing me to let out a quiet snort.

"The two of you are going to do amazing," Chika reassured me, reaching up with an arm to pat my head. I bent over compliantly, allowing my pseudo-sister to ruffle my hair lightly. "There's no reason to be worried, you guys are going to get the highest scores… I can feel it. You've been working very hard."

Yuma nodded and stepped closer to the two of us as she reached up with her other hand to pat his own fluffy hair. "You've been practising nonstop with the shooter triggers ever since Shiori showed us." He lifted a hand to stick his gloved thumb up. "C'mon, have some faith in yourself."

I sighed heavily, thumping my fist against my chest a few times. "Yeah. I got to just calm down…" I trailed off, before turning to my two faithful teammates. "Thanks, guys."

The two of them gave me reassuring smiles. "No problem."

"And no one ruined my hair today," I chuckled. "I should be feeling better than usual, not going around moping like a wimp!"

Chika laughed softly. "Jin-san, Konami-san, and Karasuma-san seem to be making a habit of it, aren't they?"

"I'll say," I huffed, memories of the two males ruffling my hair, or Konami giving me a fond noogie literally every day going through my mind. "I seriously have a permanent messy bun all because of those three…"

"You're hair is getting longer…" Yuma observed quietly, circling around behind me to get a closer look at my long hair, messily wrapped up and tied into a bun at the back of my head. "You could pass off as Shiori's sibling like this…"

"You think so?" I repeated curiously, twirling a stray piece of hair in my hand. "I didn't even think of that, really… But I've already got a sister." I joked at the end, patting Chika on the shoulder gently.

"Ok, but honestly, what's the plan for today?" Yuma began with a slight smile before it slowly morphed into a smirk as he went on. "Should we just blast everyone out of the water? Maybe a few months ago, when you first stole the C-rank Trigger, you _miiiiight've not passed this_ —"

"Gee, _thanks_." I dryly muttered, trying to hide my grin at his playful jab.

"— _You had no battle experience_ , sorry about that. So are we just going to beat everyone else, aim for a high score?" He smirked at me. "After all, there's no way that somebody that can beat Torimaru every once in a while, would lose at a _simple enlistment test._ "

I took a deep breath. "I'm… probably gonna hang back. I don't want to draw too much attention to myself **_too quickly_**."

He pouted. "That's boring though. You should just take the second top spot, then no one's going to go around underestimating you."

"I don't want people to think I'm strong, either," I protested weakly. "Or else they'll be let down when the inevitable _fuck-up comes around to drop-kick me down the street_."

"There will be no fuck-up." He reassured me. "Chika and I'll make sure of it, you don't need to worry about letting people down."

Chika nodded in unison, and I let out a deep sigh.

" _I don't deserve you two_ ," I chuckled. "That doesn't mean that I'm going to for a high score, but thanks, that means a lot to me."

 **"I'm Border HQ Director, Shinoda Masafumi. We welcome your enlistment,"** A loud, amplified voice interrupted our discussion. **"Today you become C-rank agents, in other words, trainees. The future of Mikado city rests on your shoulders."**

" _Oh god, this is unexpectedly deep_ ," Yuma whispered to me, and I bit my lip to keep myself from laughing.

" _What were you expecting?_ " I said lowly, smothering a laugh under my breath. " _'Here's a bunch of Neighbour-inspired weapons, go off I guess'?_ " I asked rhetorically.

I was pleasantly surprised when I heard a small giggle from Chika's direction.

"Maybe," Yuma joked back. "Maybe add on a little tidbit like, ' _and don't forget to kill all of the Neighbours, but be back home before dinner!_ '… or something like that." I covered my mouth and fought against the urge to laugh with a vengeance, trying to listen to Shinoda's speech properly.

 **"—it from me. Arashiyama squad will explain the rest."**

' _Ah, we missed it_ ,' I noted in my head, although the amusement from our little scene was not quite gone yet.

The focus of everyone in the room abruptly shifted, as their heads turned towards the group of four standing proudly at the bottom of the stage.

"Ooh, they're so popular," Yuma observed, the three of us being drowned out by the impressed murmuring from the crowd.

"So, we'll begin orientation. Let's split up by position," Arashiyama spoke up cheerfully, easily grabbing the attention of everyone in the room. "People who want to be gunners or attackers, stay here. People aiming to be snipers, follow Satori to the training hall." He gestured to said male before the group of soon-to-be C-ranks split up as instructed.

I turned to Chika. "You'll be fine, but if anyone bothers you…"

She nodded reassuringly. "Kick them where it hurts, or get help from the closest responsible person."

I nodded with a smirk and a thumbs up as Yuma winced, pleasant smile not fading. "…You're a bad influence on Chika, Mori…"

Chika skipped off towards Satori, and I wiped a fake tear away from my eye. "I know. Isn't it great?"

He paled slightly, duckface in place with his arms crossed. " _More like terrifying… The rest of my team is_ ** _scary_**."

"Hi, I'm Arashiyama Jun, in charge of the attackers and gunners." The male at the front of the room spoke up clearly, face calm and composed. "First off, congratulations on your enlistment."

As his eyes met Yuma and mine across the room, I gave him a nearly unnoticeable smile along with a thumbs up, while Yuma waved to him with a grin.

"Like director Shinoda said, you're trainees for now. Until you're promoted to B-rank, you can't be placed on duty. So how can you become official agents? We'd like to explain that first, so look at the back of your left hand."

I flipped my arm over, staring at the innocent ' _1,000_ ' marked there.

"The Trigger holder you all have now contains one combat Trigger that you chose. That number on your hand shows how much mastery you've demonstrated over that Trigger. To be promoted to B-rank, you need to bring that number up to 4,000. Most people will start with 1,000, except in cases where you showed aptitude during provisional enlistment, and have points added already. Naturally, more will be expected of you, strive to deliver your best."

I scowled at the flat number. ' _They probably docked any points that I could have gotten since I did take their Trigger… Damn, this is gonna need some work_.'

"There are two ways to earn points. Get good marks in the group training sessions twice a week, or fight over points in the Rank wars. We'll have you get a taste of training first, follow me."

-0-

"Mikumo."

I jumped instinctively at the sharp voice, spinning around frantically.

" _Kitora-san_ ," I greeted as calmly as I could.

"So you **_are_** trying out for Border," She rhetorically muttered, stepping beside me. "Even after all of the fuss you put up, stating that there was _no way it would_ ** _ever_** _happen_."

I slumped slightly, letting out a nervous chuckle. "Well, uh, things change, you know?"

"Hey, Kitora." Yuma smoothly interrupted, stepping in between us two with a casually raised hand. "Been a while," He opened his eye slightly and gave her a small grin. "I'm in Border now, _so I'll be seeing you around_."

His tone was slightly icy, and I felt tense being around the two of them as Kitora's eyes narrowed challengingly.

"Ah, guys…? We should probably get going..."

In perfect sync, they broke off the intense staring, walking on either side of me as I awkwardly started towards the doors, lagging behind the main group by a substantial amount.

"So, I need to get to B-rank as soon as possible," Yuma began conversationally, voice losing some of its original disdain as I breathed a sigh of relief. "Got any advice?"

"Easy." Kitora turned her dark eyes to him, and I shivered as they passed over me. ( _Oh, why did they let me walk in between them, this is_ ** _the fucking worst_ —**) "Get perfect scores in training, and keep winning Rank wars."

"Ah, simple to understand," Yuma nodded sagely, his laid-back expression making it seem more comical that it was probably meant to. " _Good_."

"Here we are, the first training exercise," Arashiyama stated, finally coming to a halt the large door at the front of the crowd. "Is combat against a Neighbour. In this simulation mode, you will fight Neighbours recreated from Border's accumulated data."

"Oh, that's easy," I muttered, quiet enough so that Kitora wouldn't hear me. " _That's all? Really?_ "

"I guess they don't want to turn too many people away at the door," Yuma commented. "Some people aren't good at first, but can turn out to be the strongest of warriors after a decent environment… Sort of like you. Your reflexes were good, but you flinched a lot and had too little combat experience, so it only _seemed_ like you didn't have any talent _when you actually did_."

"Ah, I suppose that makes sense," I hummed shortly. "And vice-versa, right? There could be some supposed prodigies in here that turn out to be _duds_."

"Probably." His red eyes flickered over to the three boys that were bugging him earlier, and I stifled a snort. "… _They don't seem like much, for how over-confident they are_."

"Some of you have been here already," Arashiyama spoke out, gesturing over to an observation-like box as he instructed the trainees. "You won't run out of Trion or get hurt in simulation mode, so feel free to go all out. What you'll be fighting is a beginner level opponent. You've all seen this type of large Neighbour, although it's been made a bit smaller for training. It doesn't attack, but it has thick armour."

"Wait, the _actual_ Neighbour, or the simulated one?" I whispered confusedly, ignoring Kitora's scolding glance for talking during a speech. "Cause the actual one _totally_ attacked, _I almost died_."

"You get five minutes each, the faster you beat it, the more points earned. If you feel confident, go for a high score," Arashiyama smiled. "That's all, each room can begin!"

-0-

"Under a minute is good for your first try," Kitora spoke, her neutral voice unexpectedly sharp. "I suppose you'll be going soon, hm?"

I weakly nodded. " _I guess._ "

"What time do you think you'll get?" She asked, not sounding all that curious even though she asked. Probably thinks of me like some sort of bother. "The C-rank Trigger from back then was a Scorpion, did you stick with that same Trigger?"

"…No, I got recommended to be a shooter," I replied, the feeling of nervousness not going any from as long as I was around her. The small comfort of a mini-Replica in my pocket didn't fill the hole that Yuma's absence created.

"…So I suppose you have adequate Trion levels?" She scoffed. "Don't you dare think that they'll get you very far in Rank battles, you'll fall easily if you get over-confident, especially because of something as minor as Trion amount. What really matters is how you use it."

" _I won't get over-confident_ ," I promised, trying to end the conversation.

 ** _"ROOM TWO, COMPLETE. TIME: 58 SECONDS."_**

The two of us paused and glanced over, watching one of the overconfident boys from before walking out of the training chamber nonchalantly as he swiped a hand over his hair.

 _"Wow, less than a minute!"_

 _"That's amazing!"_

"58 seconds," Kitora nodded. "Pretty good."

"Oh, Yuma's starting," I commented, turning to the side to watch my white-haired friend leave everyone in the dust. "I've gotta see this."

 ** _"ROOM 5, READY."_**

Yuma twisted his arm around, and I allowed a fond grin to cover my expression as I watched everyone's heads turn in unison towards the room.

 ** _"BEGIN!"_**

"Yeah…"

The Neighbour's head split.

" _You really can't compare to him, can you?_ " I whispered into the empty air, listening as the entire area went dead silent.

-0-

 ** _"…Uh…. 0.6 SECONDS?!"_**

 _"WHA—"_

 _"WHO IS THIS GUY?!"_

"Hey, MORI!" Yuma waved to me across the room nonchalantly, and I ignored the familiar sixth sense as over half the people in the room spun around to stare at us two in complete shock. "DID I GET A PERFECT SCORE?"

I cupped my hand over my mouth, yelling as loud as I dared with the heavy silence. "I think you need to do a _little bit_ better than that!"

"Really?" He grinned before turning back around to face the observation box, which I now knew had the people overseeing the enlistment. " _ONE MORE!_ "

" _Please_ ," I whispered to Replica, who dutifully sent the message over to Yuma.

"— _PLEASE!_ "

Another slam, the Neighbour's head split open once again. I was tempted to comment on the obvious taunting, as he made the cut even deeper this time and flashed me a cheeky grin mid-air.

 ** _"TIME : 0.4 SECONDS?!"_**

 _"EVEN FASTER?!"_

 _"You're amazing!"_

 _"Who are you?!"_

" _That's Yuma for you_ ," I mumbled fondly, and I felt a robotic hum from my pocket that made me chuckle. With my mood successfully brought back up, I was about to jog over to my teammate and go take my own test, but…

"Now it all makes sense…!"

"Huh?" I turned to Kitora questioningly, and she spun around to face me with an expression of dawning realization.

"When those Neighbours attacked your school…"

There was a sliver of satisfaction in her eyes, and I felt as if cold water had been dumped back down my back.

"He's the one who dealt with them, wasn't he?"

I froze, my lips parted slightly in pure shock. Kitora must have taken my silence as confirmation, as she grinned victoriously.

"I knew it! So that's how it is, I _knew_ someone like you couldn't pull off such a feat!"

-0-

 ** _"Oh, by the way, four-eyes!"_**

 ** _"Wha— GAH?! STOP MESSING WITH MY HAIR YOU GODDAMN—!"_**

 ** _"Remember four-eyes, don't let other people bring you down. They've got no right to undermine how good you feel, you feel me?"  
_**

 ** _"Where the hell is this coming from all of a—?!"_**

 ** _"Also, remember! Nine seconds!"  
_**

 ** _"WHA—?!"_**

-0-

"Ah, Mori, did'ja see me?" Yuma waved to his partner, casually walking up with a carefree expression.

He paused in front of the duo, however, sensing the slightly heavy air as Kitora smirked proudly at Mori.

"Eh? Did something happen…?" His eyes sharpened, unnoticed by both females as he glared lightly at Kitora.

"I _just_ put it together," The A-rank proudly stated. "You were the one that took down the Neighbours at the school. I knew that this _wannabe_ couldn't manage something so skilled, right?"

Yuma paused, before slowly turning to the higher ranked opponent. "You—"

Mori cut him off by setting a hand on his shoulder. " _Yuma_."

He paused, barely moving as he twisted his head back to his partner. However, he barely hesitated, even when he caught a glimpse of her cold eyes.

(— _why am I letting something so small get me down like this_ —)

"I'll be right back, don't cause any trouble." She murmured, the two of them ignoring Kitora's confused glance as she walked away, stepping towards a nearby training room.

Yuma stood still for a moment, before turning to Kitora as nonchalantly as he could manage without giving away how much he wanted to challenge her to a Rank battle outright, just to show her not to mess with his captain.

(— _The two of them know though, Yuma's different. While Mori's anger is a flame, lashing out and flickering wildly, ready to be put out or grow larger at any moment, Yuma's anger is ice. He waits, stews in his rage silently, freezing his enemies so painfully that it burns_ —)

"…Wow, you really don't understand anything about her, do you?"

Kitora spun around to face him indignantly. " _Excuse me?_ What is there to—?"

"Ah, Yuma."

Kitora froze, and Yuma leaned over to the side to see around her.

"Torimaru." Yuma gave him a slight smile and waved pleasantly, receiving a good-natured wave back.

"Karasuma!" Kitora greeted in a panic. "I-it's nice to see you again! You haven't been in the Rank wars at all lately—!"

"Ah, where's Mori?" Karasuma asked curiously. "I came to see how she'd do, and visit a couple people around Border…"

Kitora froze at being brushed off, and Yuma pointed over towards one of the training rooms that were waiting to begin. "She's going to start soon… You came just in time."

Karasuma nodded, before giving the Neighbour boy a curious stare. "…You seem _agitated_."

"Oh, nothing," Yuma waved off, before sending a sharp glance to Kitora that absolutely neither of them missed. " _Somebody just pissed me off, that's all_."

 ** _"ROOM 3, READY."_**

All three of them turned towards the room Mori was in, watching her stand completely still in front of the Trion simulated Neighbour.

"She's not happy." Yuma murmured.

 ** _"BEGIN!"_**

As soon as the countdown finished, Mori had appeared behind the Neighbour in a flash, unseen by all of the C-ranks, bar Yuma, who only smirked.

Mori's eyes opened, and she sent one more bullet, that had formed in her hand, over behind her and below the Neighbour.

Below it, where a few dozen other cubes had been set and laid down where the armour of the monster was thickest.

" _Meteora_."

There was a bright flash from underneath the Neighbour, just before it blew up.

-0-

 ** _"T-TIME…. 3 SECONDS…!"_**

I stepped out of the training room.

 _"A-ANOTHER ONE?!"_

I ignored all of the awed whispers coming from around, striding across the room, straight towards my teammate, Kitora, and my teacher.

I ignored the former and the latter for the moment, however, and stood up straight as I stared Kitora right into her purple, wide eyes.

"Hi," I began clearly. "I'm the _wannabe_. _Nice to meet you._ "

-0-

After I realized that she was so shocked she wouldn't currently move, I nodded in a satisfied manner, before turning to Yuma with a small scowl. He only chuckled at me, drama successfully forgotten.

"I thought you said you were gonna go for a low score…?"

I scowled even further, which he had a good laugh at. "Y'know _that was the plan_ , but…"

"What was it you said to Shiori…?" He trailed off with a smirk. "' _Sometimes when provoked_ '… was it?"

" ** _Shut it_**." I hissed lowly, taking slight amusement as I jabbed him in the side. Of course, he didn't feel a thing but fell backwards in a dramatic fashion regardless. I let out a snort at how mature we must've looked, just before Karasuma stepped up behind me.

"Mori," He patted me on the head, not ruining my hair more than it already was, messy bun holding strong against the abuse. "Good score. I'm proud."

" _Aw_ , you didn't need to watch Karasuma-senpai…" I muttered. "I'm kind of embarrassed for how I got upset so easily."

 _"I would've done it if you didn't…"_ Yuma muttered, only heard by me because of Replica relaying the information, causing me to stifle a snort.

"K-Karasuma' _-senpai_ '?!" Kitora finally unfroze, repeating my words incredulously.

"Ah, right," Karasuma pointed toward me with his thumb, pausing in the action to ruffle my hair. "Mori's my pupil. Since you two are the same age, maybe you can give her a few pointers here and there."

"Y-you mean—!" She stuttered uncharacteristically. "You coach her _one-on-one_?!"

"Pretty much," Karasuma confirmed, and flashes of him chasing me around with a Trigger enhanced blade or machine gun flashed through my mind, causing me to shiver.

"Something like that," I mumbled weakly, and Yuma, little shit that he is, laughed at me. I refrained from kicking him in the back of the legs, it gets tiring after a while.

"You've been making some pretty good progress though," Karasuma complimented, and I scratched the back of my head, although I could feel the cold hands of imminent doom creeping along my back, for god-knows-what-reason.

-0-

"Fine… _so it wasn't a fluke_ …"

Yuma and I turned curiously, eyes meeting the pitiful sight of the three overconfident boys reaching their hand towards the two of us.

"You two, team up with us. The girl can work as the operator, since we already have us three, and it's only natural… to pick the best four attacks to put on the team. But when the talented work together, they can reach even greater heights."

I scowled at them, while Yuma remained blank faced.

"Uh, _no thanks_."

" ** _Get lost_** ," I growled menacingly, taking slight amusement as the three of them paled at my expression before scrambling away.

"…Wow, _pathetic_." Yuma commented shortly. "I would never join a team with people like that."

Arashiyama chuckled. "You're teaming up with Mikumo, huh?"

" _Yyyyyyyep_." Yuma stretched out his words, and I poked him in the back of the head.

"By the way, Mikumo… _You really went for it_ , didn't you?" Arashiyama asked me, and I blinked.

"Huh?"

He laughed lightly, although not meanly. "You set up the Meteora on the underside of the Neighbour. That's where the _thickest_ of the armour is."

"Oh, right. I forgot that I had aimed for the strongest part," I shrugged. "It was the only way I could think of how to use…" ' _My side effect_ ', I heard Jin's voice echo in my head, and in a fit of defiance and aversion to sound even remotely like him— "…my Trigger. _Yeah_ , I just wanted to cause a big scene."

'… _It's not a very good side-effect anyway. It'll just bring more attention to me that I don't care for, and it's not particularly high ranking either. People like Jin sure have it easy_.'

"Oh, _so that's how it is_."

I jumped suddenly, the three of us spinning around to face the speaker, standing by the seats on a slightly higher level.

I paled at the sight of the person.

Arashiyama waved cheerily, if with albeit of confusion.

" ** _Kikuchihara_**!"

The male himself stared at me, eyes narrowing in slight disdain. "Arashiyama. Open up a training room, would you?"

His two teammates stood behind him, blinking in honest confusion as they leaned against the railing. "… _Kikuchihara_ …?"

He flicked out his Trigger. "This is something I want to see for myself… _Or if she really is a coward_."

" ** _Mikumo?_** " Arashiyama confirmed. "She's just a C-rank, she's still only using a trainee Trigger!"

He narrowed his eyes at the No. 5 captain. "What I'm doing has nothing to do with the Trigger. Besides along as she consents, it's not like rank matters. _I don't care about points_."

I blinked, slightly panicking.

Yuma poked me in the side, using Replica to speak directly into my ear. _"Oi, are you ok?"_

I blinked blankly again, hearing fuzzing slightly to drown out all of the other outside arguments. _"I think I'm going to be sick."_

 _He frowned at me._ _"You don't need to accept if you don't want to."_

 _"That would be embarrassing though. Everyone would think I'm a coward, literally everyone in the room is listening for my answer, and I still don't know why he challenged me, instead of you…"_

He fired back a response without hesitation. _"You didn't care about how weak everyone viewed you as before you completely aced the training exercise."_

 _"… Still."_

 _"Alright, it's your decision. Just don't regret it later."_

I took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of my nose before opening my eyes and facing Kikuchihara.

"Sure… I guess I accept…?"

I ignored the shocked glances from Arashiyama, Kitora, and Karasuma.

-0-

" _This is the worst decision I've ever made_ ," I mumbled in horror as I watched Tokieda, thankfully, clear out all of the C-ranks and escort them out of the room. " _I'm_ ** _already_** _regretting this_."

"Can I watch?" Yuma asked Arashiyama nonchalantly, his expression generally uncaring.

The man nodded agreeably, perfect smile in place. "Of course."

Karasuma hummed from where he had stepped up beside me. "I don't think you can get more wins than him."

" _Probably_ ," I murmured. "I wasn't _really_ planning on it either."

"Don't underestimate him." He warned, and I nodded.

"You don't need to tell me."

"… _Don't push yourself, either_." He added quickly, turning away to sit beside Kitora and Yuma before I could say another word, leaving me to blink confusedly at his back.

-0-

 ** _"BEGIN MOCK BATTLE."_**

"I wish people wouldn't make such a big deal of this…" Kikuchihara scoffed slightly. "After all, I just need to see something for myself."

I tilted my head, not mockingly, but curiously. "Does this have anything to do with Yuma being a Neighbour? And how HQ can't get his Trigger anymore?"

His eyes sharpened. To everyone else outside of the training room, it must have looked like a simple conversation. "So you _are_ aware. Seems like you're not as dumb as HQ thinks you are, all of the A-ranks seem to think that your entire team is ignorant to the mission to retrieve the black Trigger."

"We're not as ignorant as people wish we were," I commented shortly. "It was easy to put the pieces together, especially with someone irritating _like Jin_ pulling the strings to go however he likes."

" **Jin**." Kikuchihara scowled. " _Don't even remind me of that guy_ , he's so annoying. Besides… he has nothing to do with this."

He disappeared in a flash, and I barely had enough time to jump back from the blurry outline, just before he reappeared in an instant, first Scorpion blade missing, while the second pierced through my throat in a flash.

 ** _"RELAY SYSTEM SEVERED. MIKUMO DOWN."_**

My Trion body reformed in a flash, and I curiously tapped my throat as Kikuchihara stepped back again. "Huh. So _that's_ how it works."

He scowled at me, irritation leaking into his expression. "You did it again."

"Hm?" I glanced up at him, lowering my hand from where it was tapping my neck curiously. "Did what?"

Without a word, the Chameleon activated once more, and he leapt around me, aiming to attack from the back. The faded outline was nearly too quick to see on its own, but I ducked just in time to avoid a now-visible Scorpion blade.

I front-rolled and jumped away from my position, leaving behind a trail of small Meteor that blew up the area, but…

A thin Scorpion blade lashed out front the smoke cloud, slicing across my torso and causing Trion to bleed out instantly.

 ** _"TRION SUPPLY SYSTEM DESTROYED. MIKUMO DOWN."_**

The Trion body reformed again, but this time, Kikuchihara didn't give me time to recover, jumping at me with his Scorpion ready to strike.

I cursed under my breath and sidestepped, backing away as I glanced around cautiously.

' _He activated Chameleon as soon as I took my eyes off of him… geez, it's hard to see the outline if I didn't keep my eyes on him from the start_.'

My eyes caught the smallest hint of movement from my left, and I jumped away just as a blade sliced just where my neck had been a moment ago.

The Chameleon faded, and I threw around a few more bullets to send towards him.

He clicked his tongue and easily dodged all of the explosives as he quickly made his way to me.

Just as he came into range, and aimed his blade to pierce through the centre of my head, I lifted up my own hand and spread out my fingers in front of his face, a solid cube of Meteor forming in the centre.

His eyes widened, and he brought his Scorpion with twice the speed, cutting my head in half just as the bullets exploded.

 ** _"RELAY SYSTEM DESTROYED. MIKUMO DOWN."_**

My Trion body fixed itself just as quick as usual, and I hurriedly glanced up to see his own wounds regenerating, the large hole in his shoulder( _I missed. Jeez, A-ranks are_ ** _so fucking quick—_** ) healing without a trace. He glanced down at where the Trion had been leaking from with a contemplating expression just before his blank eyes shifted over to me.

"…So it _wasn't_ just my imagination."

" _What are you even talking about?_ " I finally asked, politeness fading as confusion took over.

"It's not that often I find something similar, much less something when the person's actually aware of it," His voice was low but clear for me to hear in the silent training room. "But then I hear you pretending it doesn't exist right to _Arashiyama's face_. **_What are you afraid of?_** "

" _Afraid_ …?" I repeated, eyebrow quirking. "I'm afraid of a lot of things, but where are you going with this?"

He scowled fist tightening around the Scorpion in his hand. " _Don't act dumb_."

" ** _You have a side-effect, don't you?_** "

There was a long pause, in which I slowly stood up from where I had been kneeling on the floor.

"… _Maybe_. Though I don't think you'd enter a mock battle with a C-rank… _just_ _to_ ** _verify_** _that_."

He flipped the blade around in his grip. "It was pretty clear from the start. You could figure out where the thickest parts of the Neighbour's armour was without much issue, and you have this look on your face…"

His eyes sharpened. "Like you're looking for something that _can't_ be seen… by _normal people_."

I hummed in agreement, ignoring the feeling of confusion coming from all of the spectators, unable to hear our conversation.

"Jin gets a similar expression to that… but in a way, it just makes me so _much more_ ** _irritated_**." Kikuchihara paused. " _His side-effect is useful_ , everyone says. But no one says anything good about the general enhancing side-effects, is _that_ what you're afraid of?"

"… _Not quite_ ," I mumbled, readying more bullets for everyone to see in plain sight.

' _There's no point in hiding them, he's more more observant than he seems_.'

I tried to smile, but it felt like more of a grimace. Probably _looked_ like it too. "I just… don't want people to expect things from me. Probably should've thought twice before joining the team with the Neighbour on it then, _huh_?"

He let out a huff that I thought might've been out of amusement, and raised his blades. " _Probably_."

We charged at each other again, and I ducked under a swing of his right blade, aiming one Meteora bullet at his head, which he dodged. I avoided another Scorpion that I recognized coming out of the corner of my eye, but I was a bit too slow as it nicked my cheek.

"You're **_terrible_** at using your side-effect," He mumbled. "It's obvious that you're a novice, when did you find out about it?"

"A few weeks ago, _I think_ —" I replied, dodging another blade that came a little too close to stabbing my Trion supply system. "I haven't gone around telling everyone, so _I really don't_ know where to start with training it on my own."

"You're _also_ not too smart in the strategy department," He commented offhandedly, a Scorpion blade appearing out of the side of his arm as he sliced past my torso.

 ** _"TRION SUPPLY SYSTEM DESTROYED. MIKUMO DOWN."_**

" _It's kind of a hit-or-miss_ ," I added, feeling the wound revert, and jumped back just as the Meteora that I stuck to his sword blew up, combining with the other bullets that I had been letting float around in the air around us. The explosion made a chain reaction that caused a loud and satisfying ' ** _BOOM_** ' to whistle through the air.

My eyes widened, as within the smoke, I saw a black cloud that I could only ever associate with Trion.

 ** _"TRION SUPPLY SYSTEM DESTROYED. KIKUCHIHARA DOWN."_**

"Oh, _I didn't expect that to actually work_ ," I commented loud enough for him to hear, just as he stepped out of the dust cloud with a scowl. "But also, I didn't think I was **_that bad_** at using my side-effect."

" _You're_ ** _shit_**." He bluntly commented. "Side-Effects like ours are flexible, in the way that they are enhancing something we already have. And everything a human has possesses _more than one use_. Jin can see the future, it's impressive… but it's only limited to one application."

"The ears aren't just used to hear, they're also used to pick up vibrations, and keep our balance. Now, what would happen if you enhance that?"

He tapped a finger against his ear, and I pushed up my glasses as a silent reply.

"Eyes… interpret light," I recalled, trying to remember anything from the classes at school. "It's not just picking out shapes and colours, it's taking in light, controls a large part of your flinching reflex, and see dimensions."

"Eyes see _a lot more than we think_ ," He flicked out a Scorpion, and I reacted a little too slow as it pierced through my shoulder. The wound leaked black Trion like mad, and I was worried for a moment I would have to tally up another loss. "It's a matter of _how long_ the brain takes to process it, which seems to be what's enhanced for your side-effect. Pretty useful, _if only you could use it better_."

" ** _Harsh_** ," I whispered under my breath, before realizing he could probably hear it. "Do you have any advice for me, Kikuchihara-san?"

He narrowed his eyes at me again, charging while the Chameleon slowly hid him from view. " _Stop being pathetic_."

I let out a slightly startled laugh, just before I readied another set of Meteora to blow up at any moment.

" _I suppose that's not a bad place to start!_ "

-0-

 ** _"So… the difference between shooters and gunners…"_**

 ** _"I don't think we need to make any changes."_**

 ** _"…You really don't think so? I don't think—!"_**

 ** _"Don't sell yourself short. With how good your reflexes and instincts are, I think you'll do fine as a shooter. Besides, I think you have a lot of potential with the Trigger settings. You don't need to switch over."_**

 ** _"…Thank you, Karasuma-senpai!"_**

 ** _"…Just don't forget, you can't charge in recklessly all the time. Shooters and gunners are positions that require you to think. If you do it thoughtlessly, it won't be as effective."_**

-0-

 ** _"MOCK BATTLE OVER!"_**

I took a deep breath, stepping outside of the training room, pulling my glasses off as my vision blurred slightly.

 ** _"MIKUMO MORI. 2 WINS, 17 LOSSES, 1 DRAW."_**

Kikuchihara pulled his hair out of the ponytail, expression blank as he walked just a few steps ahead of me.

 ** _"KIKUCHIHARA SHIRO. 17 WINS, 2 LOSSES, 1 DRAW."_**

"Mori," Yuma greeted with an unexpected smile as he raised a hand. "You didn't do _too_ bad."

"I… _didn't_ …?" I grinned, slapping his hand shakily as my legs staggered slightly, but barely noticeable to anyone too far away. " _I didn't do too bad…?_ "

" _Yeah_ , you did alright," Yuma commented, releasing my hand and placing both of his own on both sides of his hip proudly. " _Man_ , me and Chika really did pick a good person to follow, huh?"

" _Maybe, maybe not._.."

Karasuma stepped down slowly fromt he stairs. "Kikuchihara. Thanks for taking time to spar with my pupil."

Kikuchihara scoffed, turning off his Trigger with a scowl. "I didn't challenge her _because of you_."

Arashiyama and Kitora walked up to Yuma and I, the former more happy while the latter was bewildered.

"That was a good match, Mikumo!" Arashiayama complimented, patting me on the head gently as if I were a younger sibling he was proud of. "You did well against Kikuchiahara, maybe it'll be more even when you get a proper B-rank Trigger!"

I noticed idly when he took his hand away, that my hair was barely messed up.

"That was… _impressive_." Kitora added on hesitantly. "But only for a C-rank! Any B-rank would have been able to do that _, you're nothing special_."

" _Oh,_ ** _so any old B-rank would've been able to get a win out of me?_** "

Kitora jumped in fright, just as she whirled around to see Kikuchihara step up behind me, a scowl directed at her.

"T-that's not what I meant—!"

"Mikumo." He interrupted, ignoring Kitora completely. " _You're pretty weak and pathetic_."

I could feel a sudden underlying hint of tension to Yuma's posture now, but I only nodded agreeably. It wasn't said in a degrading way though, unlike whenever Kitora... _felt the irresistible need to insult me_.

"When you get to B-rank and stop _dragging your feet…_ " He turned slightly, already making his way towards his surprised teammates at the top of the seating areas. "… ** _I'll see for myself how much you've improved_**."

I nodded with a slight smile. "Thanks. _I think_ … I understand what you meant a little more now."

"You _better_!" He called back blandly. " _I didn't waste my time here for your_ ** _empty head_** _to not have learned_ ** _anything_** _!_ "

I waved, the expressions of surprise and shock coming from everyone around us only fuelling my amusement further as I laughed lightly.

"See you around, **_Kikuchihara-senpai!_** "

I heard a distant grumble from him, just as Yuma grinned excitedly.

"...So that was a member of the No. 3 ranked team, huh?"

I chuckled, tapping my glasses so that head get the message. "Yuma, I figured it out."

He glanced at the movement, before smirking. "Eh, that's good. After all, I think it was bothering you not to know."

"Ah, _it was_. Beyond frustrating," I replied, ignoring the confused glances being thrown around. "But it was kind of a trade-off, so now he knows too."

"Oh, _there goes the secret weapon_."

I frowned lightly, knocking my fist against his skull. "It wasn't a ' _secret weapon_ '. Besides, I need to learn how to perfect it before it's anything worth using."

Just before Kitora could open her mouth to question us, Arashiyama waved to get our attention. Two of his fingers were pressed up against where the communicator was approximately located, and his expression was one of worry that made my stomach sink to the ground. In contrast, it make Yuma grin slightly in anticipation.

"Mikumo… _we've got a problem_! Your teammate... **_She blasted a hole through the base wall with the Ibis!_** "

I could feel the blood slowly draining from my face and my hearing go fuzzy around me, as the distant sound of Yuma falling over and bursting into cackles filtered in through my ears.

-0-

I ran through the halls, Yuma hot on my tail as I cursed under my breath, Replica doing my friend a mercy and refusing to relay any of my words.

"UGH! I swear to god _IF ANYTHING HAPPENED TO HER—!_ "

"You're going to kill them, we know," Yuma finished for me, exasperation leaking into his voice. "Honestly, we should be more worried about everyone else there!"

I ignored his words, the two of us finally reaching the sniper training room.

" ** _Chika!_** "

Soon after calling her name, I scanned the room quickly ( _I was NOT using my side effect, no matter_ ** _what Yuma says—_** ), freezing in shock as I finally registered the sight.

"I see… so your name is _Chika_ …" Kinuta said with a gentle expression, patting Chika's head in a reassuring manner. "You have amazing Trion ability, _you should thank your parents_."

Chika seemed to be very confused but nodded nevertheless. "O-okay…?"

"Don't worry about the wall, it's made of Trion, _so it can be fixed very easily_."

" **K-Kinuta-san?!** " I muttered in shock. " _Is everything alright?_ "

Yuma gave me a sly grin as he caught onto the sudden politeness in my voice, a complete contrast to my behaviour earlier. I gave him a nonchalant kick to the side of his foot, not seen by most in the room.

" _Kinuta-san has a weakness for little girls?!_ " Satori exclaimed.

"Probably reminds him of his daughter, who lives with her mom. I hear she's a first year in middle school." The taller male beside him explained, face calm as he watched over the strange sight somewhat fondly.

Chika finally noticed us, a small smile appearing as she waved at us. Nearly everyone in the room's attention swivelled over to us, and I fought to keep from shaking at the staring.

" **Mori, Yuma!** "

Kinuta turned around to face us, expression losing some of its previous softness.

" _Mikumo_?! Oh, I see, Jin did mention you joining Tamakoma."

I nodded with a small sheepish smile, hand curving t o rub the back of my neck. "I apologize for any damage that was caused."

He sniffed, patting me on the back( _there was an unexpected gentleness to it, I thought he was gonna slap me_ ) as he passed by. " _Good grief_ four-eyes, look after her right, you hear me?!"

" _Yes, sir!_ " I saluted to him jokingly, before spinning around to stand beside Yuma as Chika was swarmed by her fellow rookie snipers.

Yuma raised a hand to hold over his eyes, peering over at the wrecked area on the other side of the wall. "Whoa, there's a hole."

"We both knew Chika was amazing… _but Jesus_." I patted him on the shoulder with a grin. "I don't even think that's her full power… it's not like she's dumb, if she was using a Trigger that was _emphasized on its ability to take out large Neighbours_ , she wouldn't've gone **all out**."

He smirked in excitement at that, the awed whispering and clamouring in the background only fuelling his smugness. "And **_you're_** the leader for this team of monsters."

I groaned lightly, chopping the back of his head as I tried to hold back a grin. " _Don't remind me_ , I got forced into that by you two troublemakers."

"Oh, _c'mon_ , it's not like you'd rather be on any other team!"

There was a long pause before I scratched the back of my head with a tint of pink to my cheeks as I poked him in the temple with my other hand.

"… _Maybe not. But I'm insane to have agreed to this whole thing_."

-0-

 **"Great. So everyone enlisted. They must've stood out, I could've told you that without my side effect…. They are my charges after all. They must be the talk of the HQ by now."**

 _"Did you hear that a rookie took less than a second in combat training?! He and another rookie completely beat the previous record set by Midorikawa!"_

 _"One second?! That's not possible!"_

 _"You know the hole in the wall? A rookie girl did that with an Ibis."  
_

 _"C'mon, you're pulling my leg."_

 _"That rookie shooter that took the second top record…! She managed to get a win and a tie against Kikuchihara!"_

 _"What?! That guy with the amazing side-effect..!?"_

 _"No, there's no way! He has eyes in the back of his head, I swear to god!_ "

 **"But… the time when they steal the show… is yet to come."**

-0-

"Hm…. I think that I've done all of the training there is."

I scowled furiously.

"Aw, is Mori mad because she couldn't beat me on a _single one_ of those exercises?"

I shook my head. " ** _No, I'm not_**." I paused for a moment. "Ok, _maybe a little_."

Tokieda watched the two of us, being the one that offered to show Yuma around… and the latter insisted I tagged along.

"A perfect score for each training exercise is 20 points," He began, effectively getting our attention. "Judging by how well Kuga did… I'd say he needs around 2,900 more points to rank-up."

" _You'd be correct_ ," Yuma confirmed, flipping over his glove to glance at the glowing number.

"That means that Mikumo needs even more than that," Tokieda turned to me for clarification and I nodded sullenly. "With group sessions twice a week, it'll take 19 weeks to get up to 4,000 points, with perfect scores all around. And even more time, if you only reach second place scores."

" ** _Way too slow_**." The two of us shot down in unison.

"We need to progress _faster_ ," I mumbled. "You two want to get to A-rank as soon as possible, _and for as much as I disagree with aiming for No. 1…_ "

"…We still need to advance to B-rank, _at least_." Yuma finished. "So that means we'll have to earn points in the Rank wars, huh?"

We stepped over a door's threshold, a wave of sound hitting us in a flash as the sight of C-rank uniforms greeted us. There was a large board against the other side of the room covered in different numbers, from what seemed like 100 to 400.

"This is the lobby for C-rank trainees," Tokieda stated, gesturing at the room. "I'll show you two how to start it up, you can pick an empty booth."

I waited for a moment as Yuma looked around, scrutinizing each room harshly before his eyes landed on one that he liked. We stepped into the one he pointed to, and I shut the door behind us as the two of them walked up to the screens set up at the desk.

Tokieda touched the screen, watching blankly as it lit up with a list of corresponding numbers and Trigger names. "C-rank wars consist of a one-on-one match in a virtual field. The list of points and weapons on the screen here corresponds to each agent that are currently participating. Pick anyone you want a match with, but remember, anyone can pick you as well. If you ever want to stop, just leave the booth."

"How do you get the most points possible?" Yuma asked curiously, tilting his head to the side so that I could get a good look of the screen from over his shoulder.

"The more points your opponent has, the more you can gain in return. If the points are lower than you, then you'll get much less. If you lose, you lose a lot… more so if they're higher ranked than you."

"Hm…" Yuma hummed, and the two of us turned to bow to him. "Thank you for your personal instructions, Kitora's senpai."

"—Thank you for the help, **_Tokieda-san_** ," I corrected for the two of us.

"It's no problem." He waved a hand nonchalantly.

Just as he stepped out of the booth, I spun around and patted Yuma on the head while moving towards the door myself. "Alright, I think I want to wait for a bit before I go rack up on points."

" _Really?_ " He asked in slight dismay, before sighing. "We should advance as soon as possible though…"

"Chika isn't quite ready to rank-up herself," I reminded patiently. "Besides, a bunch of rumours have spread around because of my match with Kikuchihara-senpai… I don't think I'm quite ready to go all out against somebody else so soon."

"Well, I guess it's up to you," He turned back to the screen while waving to me. "I'm gonna get closer to advancing to B-rank."

" _Have fun_ ," I chuckled as I waved to my friend. "I'm probably going to go do dodging practice, see you later."

I was about to step out, but stopped at the last second to say one last thing.

"Replica, keep an eye on him for me!"

-0-

The moment I stepped into the cafeteria-like area, everyone's eyes swivelled around to look at me.

The second I walked up to the counter and got a drink, everyone was whispering about me.

' _She beat Kikuchihara! She beat Kikuchihara!_ '…. they say.

' ** _How the fuck did the rumours get so twisted?!_** '

The actual record was 17 losses, 2 wins, and 1 tie! And now they're coming up with this bullshit… I beat him?! There's a part of me that wants to scream at them, and beat their head against a wall until they get the rumour straight, but…

' _Oh god, I think I'm going to be sick_.'

So many people are staring… _I should've just_ ** _stuck with Yuma—_**

"Oi, oi."

I slammed my drink down ( _it barely made a noise,_ ** _dumb paper cups—_** ) before turning my head to look at the speaker.

The boy was substantially shorter than me, just making it over my head even though I was sitting down. His eyes were a sharp green, and his lips were pulled into a grin, even though his body language screamed morbid curiosity.

"I want to ask you something," He interrupted my thoughts, his grin stretching up even further.

"Uh, w-what do you need…?"

I cursed my previous nervousness for making me stutter slightly.

"That emblem," He lifted a finger to point at the badge on the side of my C-rank uniform. " _Tamakoma_ , right? Are you from there?"

My head dropped to glance at the familiar badge as I nodded. "Yeah, I was going to originally enlist at HQ, but pulled out last second. I got somebody's attention later on though, and they managed to set things up for me to join their branch."

"Hm?" He hummed curiously. " _Somebody_? Who?"

"Ah, it was… _Jin_. S-rank?" I hummed, swirling my straw around in my drink. "I don't really get why he took interest in me, _myself_. It just doesn't really make sense, but I'm not one to question it when _he'd never tell me anyway…_ "

" ** _Jin_**?" He repeated, jolting slightly.

"Yeah… you probably know him, even though he doesn't come around to HQ _too often_ ," I sighed, slurping on my drink.

"Hm…" I heard him hum.

" ** _Let's have a solo Rank war_**."

I nearly spat my drink.

"Whoa, _what?!_ " I glanced up at him, slightly shocked at the sudden appearance of an undecipherable emotion swirling around in his eyes.

"The two of us. _Solo. Rank war_ ," He repeated as if talking to a child. "We can still use the C-rank booths, and we don't need to bet points if you're too cowardly." He grinned, and yet my eyes picked up an emotion that clearly didn't fit with his playful expression. "C'mon, as many rounds as you want, five, _or ten maybe_?"

I stood up and threw my cup towards the trash, watching him warily as he followed behind me with the same obnoxious grin, leaking with negative intent. My eye twitched slightly, and I frowned.

"I'm not too interested in fighting anyone else right now. I was planning on doing dodging training—"

"We can still do that!" He said, a bit more cheerily this time. "After all, dodging is better practised when you're _actually fighting against a person!_ It'll be fun, I'll even give you some points **if you're confident enough to _think_ you can do good!**"

My frown slowly transformed into a scowl as I pulled a jawbreaker from my pocket, throwing it into my mouth. " _I'm not interested_."

He stared at me for another moment, before turning away with an obviously fake pout, and his arms linked around the back of his head in an overly casual way.

I thought he was finally about to leave, just before I heard a low mumble that I'm absolutely certain he meant for me to hear.

"… ** _I guess you just don't think you can do it._** "

My jaw snapped shut, shattering the candy in my mouth.

'... _Am I really falling for this old trick?_ '

-0-

Ducking under a blade.

Twirling around to the side.

Jumping over a slice towards my feet.

Shifting my shoulder over to the side by a few centimetres.

A Scorpion stabs dead centre into my face.

'… _Oops, I was too late to react on that one_.'

 ** _"RELAY SYSTEM DESTROYED. MIKUMO DOWN."_**

I landed harshly on the familiar texture of the mat, this having happened 19 times before. I pat the mattress with a groan, before sitting up and adjusting my glasses absentmindedly.

 ** _"ROUND 20 OVER. 20 - 0. VICTOR: MIDORIKAWA."_**

"…I lasted _much longer_ than I thought I would."

I stretched my arms over my head, going over the match multiple times in my head as I reviewed every time he took me down. '… _I was too focused on his right hand during that part… then for that time, I overlooked the fact that he can use Scorpion so flexibly, and wasn't paying attention to his feet… and for the third match, I was just being a moron. Seriously, who get's distracted by what shade of blue the sky is?_ '

I pushed the booth door open with a sigh. 'Well, I guess it wasn't bad practice... Maybe I should try this out with Yuma sometime...'

" **Oi, _MORI_!**"

I jolted, whirling around to face Yotaro, who I wasn't expecting to be here, riding on Raijinmaru beside Yuma.

" _How_ ** _dare_** _you lose!_ "

"Yotaro," I greeted in slight shock. "Yuma."

Yuma gave me a friendly wave. "You sure attract a lot of attention. What happened to 'not going to fight anyone'?"

"I was…" I shrugged with a slight frown. "…That was the dodging practice I was talking about. Somebody volunteered to help out, I guess."

" ** _Thanks, four-eyes._** "

I turned my head up towards the second level, seeing Midorikawa peering down at me with a slightly smug expression, posture confident and boasting. "I got an idea of what you can do. _You can go now_."

I held back any irritation that welled up at his smug tone but only gave him a lazy wave with a blank expression. I could feel Yotaro bristle beside me, for god-knows-what-reason, he wasn't even talking to him, and grabbed the back of his vest.

"Thanks for the matches," I called out blandly, making sure to keep my tone flat.

Midorikawa gave me a dismissive wave in reply.

I turned to Yotaro, who was scowling non-threateningly and yelling. "C'mon Raijinmaru! _I'll get revenge!_ ** _Let's go—!_** "

" _What's with you?_ " I asked, slightly irritated. "Why are you so riled up?"

He turned to me with a frown, eyebrows scrunched together angrily, in a way that was not really scary at all. "He beat you up! _We gotta go get revenge_!"

" _That's the last thing you need to do_ ," I mumbled fondly, chopping his head lightly. I ignored the fact that it was the exact same action Jin had made on the first day when we visited Tamakoma. "Besides, _it was just practice_. It's not bad to lose often, especially if you never intended to win in the first place."

….He _…wasn't listening_ , was he.

"I'm going to beat him up! **Go, _Raijinmaru_!**"

'… _No, no he was not_.'

"Say," I finally heard Yuma speak up from behind me, addressing Midorikawa, much to my surprise.

" _Did you attract all these spectators?_ "

I blinked in confusion, before finally looking around to see many more C-ranks gathered in the room than usual, most of them whispering and pointed to me.

"…When did they get here?" I asked Yotaro confusedly.

"They've been here since before we got here!" He whined. "They won't stop insulting you, _just let us go beat him up!_ "

"Hey, it's not Midorikawa-san's fault," I reprimanded. "They're probably just interested in the rumours, it's no big deal. It's not like anyone's insulting you or Yuma, wha—"

" ** _Fight me, Midorikawa_**."

My words were cut off as the two of us spun around to stare at Yuma in shock.

" _If you win, I'll give you all of my points._ ** _All 1,508 of them_**."

I openly gaped, too lost for words to even yell at him for his stupidity. " _WHA_ —?!"

"... _Just 1,500_?" Midorikawa repeated, unamused. "You're just a C-rank. You're going to fight me with a training Trigger?"

"That's what _Mori_ was doing." Yuma grinned smugly, in the way that always made me scream internally because I just know he's going to do something spectacularly stupid. Or stupidly spectacular. "Besides... ** _I'm pretty sure that's enough to handle someone_ like you**."

I could see Midorikawa scoff from the balcony, before flipping and jumping over the railing with a scowl.

"Fine, let's do it." He agreed. "What do you want if you win? 3,000 points? _5,000?_ "

Yuma narrowed his eyes dangerously. "I don't want any. But…"

I saw his gloved hand clench slightly.

"… _If I win, I want to hear more respect out of you_."

Midorikawa's expression twisted into something more scornful, before disappearing as quickly as it came. He grinned in an easy-going manner, holding both arms out to the sides. "Okay. If I lose… I'll act with the _utmost respect_ for you."

"No, _not me_."

And just then, Yuma pointed behind him, a smile painted on his face hiding the simmering, cold rage lashing out from underneath his skin.

Pointed right towards me.

" ** _You'll treat my captain with more respect_**."

I froze.

"Oh?" Yotaro smirked. " _Yuma's pretty mad!_ "

-0-

There was dead silence all around until Yotaro spoke up again with a smirk.

" _This is getting interesting_."

I snapped out of my daze. "Hey, _Yum_ —!"

"Hey, I scheduled a fight with him first, you know."

I spun around to the speaker so quickly I was surprised I didn't get whiplash.

"Uh… _You're_ —"

"Yoneya Yosuke." Yoneya interrupted with a grin. "Call me Yosuke, **four-eyes-chan**."

"Four-eyes' _-cha—_ '?!"

"Yosuke is Shiori's cousin," Yotaro cut me off with a grin that was eerily similar to Yoneya's. " **We're buddies in the ' _Yo_ '-name crew**."

" _Cousin?_ 'Yo' _-name—?!_ " I spun around confusedly. "What the hell is going on?!"

-0-

"… _Oh, he's in the No. 4 squad_ ," I tonelessly commented. " _I thought I heard they weren't around at the moment…?_ "

"He's not old enough quite yet to be brought along and out of town," Yoneya replied casually.

" **Is he tougher than you, Yosuke?** " Yotaro asked with his arms crossed, sitting beside me.

"I dunno, _I don't really keep track of my points_ ," Yoneya muttered with a grin. "I win some, I lose some. But Midorikawa is still in **_junior high_** … _he's probably more talented than I am_."

I kept my eyes on the screen, watching Midorikawa charge at Yuma with a Scorpion, the latter boredly dodging most of the slices in a lazy fashion. I thought he would return with his own attack, but instead, I watched his arm go slack as he let Midorikawa stab him from behind.

 ** _"KUGA, BAIL OUT. MIDORIKAWA LEADS, 1 - 0."_**

"Yuma!" Yotaro yelled worriedly, and my eyebrows lowered in slight irritation.

'… _What is he doing? That was definitely on purpose_ …'

 ** _"BEGIN ROUND 2."_**

Right from the start, Midorikawa chased down Yuma once again, engaging in a quick-paced sword fight that Yuma went through with a bored expression.

Again, I saw Yuma go slack as Midorikawa launched himself behind him, cutting him in half in an instant.

I distantly heard Yotaro whine, but my eyes only narrowed further.

 ** _"KUGA, BAIL OUT. MIDORIKAWA LEADS, 2 - 0."_**

' _What is he doing? Why did he even challenge him in the first place, and why is he losing on purpose…?_ '

"Look," Yoneya muttered, grinning excitedly as his eyes were fixed on the screen. "His experience is showing."

"What do you mean?!" Yotaro called out angrily, shaking his small fist in the air. "Is Yuma gonna get stomped on **_too_**?!"

" _I didn't get stomped on_ ," I protested irritatedly, heard only by Yoneya, who chuckled before responding to Yotaro.

"No, _it's gonna be the other way around_ ," He gestured at the screen lazily. "Just watch. The shrimp's gonna start winning."

Yuma stabbed Midorikawa through the chest, simultaneously getting his arm cut off.

 ** _"MIDORIKAWA, BAIL OUT. MIDORIKAWA LEADS, 2 - 1."_**

"Got him, _he won't lose any more_ ," Yoneya laughed. "He held out against our squad's attacks, four-to-one. There's no way he'd lose to **_Midorikawa one-on-one_**."

" _Why was he losing in the first place?_ " I mumbled irritatedly, adjusting my glasses. "It was _obviously_ on purpose…"

Yoneya gave me a curious glance, before turning his focus back to the screen. "I don't get what the deal is… but it looks like the albino shrimp _really wants to pummel the_ ** _heck out of Midorikawa_**."

-0-

"— _I don't know why you want to ruin Mori's reputation_."

Yuma glared coldly at Midorikawa from across the street.

"Mori should be doing something about it herself, since I know she's pretty tough… But sometimes she can be pretty dense. Or just feel like it's something she deserves, even if she only does so unconsciously. I don't think she even knows what's up with the match you two had, or why I'm so upset about it."

Yuma's hair shifted in the wind, the Trion simulated world dead-silent around them. His eyes darkened intentionally, and a shiver went down Midorikawa's spine.

"So I'm doing it for her. And I'll pray you'll never be dumb to do something like this again, or else I'll be the least of your worries. My partner can be pretty scary when she wants to, _although I wish she'd just kick your ass from the get-go_."

He gave a serene smile that didn't match the tone of their conversation in the slightest. " _Don't even get me started on my other teammates… Man,_ ** _if Chika or Shiori heard what you did._**.."

He paused, before glancing down at Midorikawa's dominant hand, the one gripping the blade tightly.

"Aren't you A-rank, you have other Triggers, right? Why not use something besides the Scorpion?"

Midorikawa gave him a more confident grin, finally raising his blade with an ounce of respect for the person in front of him.

"…This is fine. This way… _I can clearly see the difference between us_."

Yuma grinned excitedly, raising his own Scorpion.

" _Aha_. I like that expression on your face better."

And then they charged.

-0-

 ** _"ROUND TEN OVER."_**

I glanced up at the screen with curious eyes, before turning my head down to the room Yuma just stepped out of.

 ** _"WINNER, KUGA YUMA."_**

He pat the non-existent dust from his uniform, expression nonchalant as he walked over towards Yotaro and I.

" _Great job, Yuma!_ " Yotaro cheered, thumb lifted up. "I had faith in you!"

"Why did you challenge him in the first place?" I asked curiously, before being skillfully ignored by my partner.

"Okay, albino shrimp…" Yoneya pointed at him with a smile. " _You're going to fight me next—!_ "

" ** _Yuma, Four-eyes!_** "

I jolted at the unexpected voice that cut Yoneya off, spinning around with my eyes narrowed.

"…Jin-san."

"Whoa, _you sound so excited to see me!_ " He laughed, waving to me with a friendly grin. "Could you guys come with me? _Kido-san wants to see you_."

"Commander Kido?!" I exclaimed.

Yuma's face remained frighteningly blank. "… _Who_?"

I jabbed him in the side without blinking.

' _I literally_ **just** _said "Commander"…_ '

 _"It's Jin, he's S-rank…"_

 _"Jin from Tamakoma…!"_

I blinked at the sudden whispering in the crowd, watching Jin turn to them with a carefree salute.

"Sorry, _but I'm not S-rank anymore_ , just an elite A-rank agent."

I shared a quick glance with Yuma at that statement. '… _He's so nonchalant about it… it's kind of irritating how easily he brushed off the loss of his mentor's legacy_ … _Or how quick he is to act like it_.'

Midorikawa finally burst through the doors of his own booth, leaning over the railing in an overly excited way. " ** _JIN!_** "

Much like earlier, he flipped and leapt over the side, but jumped over and began skipping around Jin cheerily. "You quit S-rank?! Then we can have a match!"

"Hey Shun," Jin greeted with a fond smile, twisting his head around to keep track of the hyperactive teen jumping around him. "You always have so much energy."

Yuma and I paused, staring at the sight with blank expressions.

"… _What is this?_ " Yuma finally settled for, and Yoneya gave a small chuckle.

"Midorikawa is a huge fan of Jin. Jin saved him from a Neighbour before he could be eaten, and that's why he joined Border."

"I see," Yuma placed a finger on his chin. "So he was was _jealous_ of Mori for joining Tamakoma."

" _Wait, what?_ " I turned to him in confusion, but he only whistled innocently while turning away.

"Well, the two of you also beat the record he had set for the training exercise," Yoneya casually added. "He had done it in 4 seconds, and with you under a second and _four-eyes with 3_ …"

"Wait, _I beat a record?!_ " My mouth gaped slightly in awe. "I was only trying to beat 9 seconds!"

Yuma turned to me in confusion. " _9 seconds_ …? What's so special about 9 seconds?"

"— ** _Nothing_**!" I denied too loud to be casual.

" _9 seconds was Kitora's score_ ," Jin smugly spoke up from behind me, Midorikawa trailing behind him.

I bristled at Jin's smirk, but before I could punch him...

"Eh…?" Yuma turned to me with a smug expression, and Yoneya was right behind him with a teasing grin. "So Mori just wanted to rub it in Kitora's face, huh?"

" _No, I didn't!_ " I protested, but everyone had already heard.

" _She did!_ " Yoneya chortled loudly. "Oh my god, **_that's the best_** _, four-eyes!_ "

" _Would you all just stop calling m—!_ "

Jin yanked on the back of my Trion uniforms collar, causing my words to cut off with a sudden choke. He waved to everyone with a sheepish grin, gesturing for Yuma to follow as he dragged me over to the door. "Sorry guys, but there's a meeting scheduled! I'm a busy elite agent, got places to be!"

-0-

Midorikawa stared at the hallway the four had just disappeared down.

"… _I didn't get to apologize to Mikumo-senpai_ …"

-0-

It didn't really hurt since I was in my Trion body, but that doesn't mean I wasn't bitter.

I could tell Yuma and Jin were taking amusement out of my saltiness, even though I could hear them holding up a conversation beside me.

"So Yuma, what did you think of Shun? Was he tough?"

Yuma nodded with a smile. " _Pretty formidable_. Without Konami's training, I think I would've been in some serious trouble… he'll get even stronger with time."

Jin nodded while humming. "What about you, _four-eyes_?"

"Don't call me that, _I am so sick of that nickname,_ " I grumbled lowly. "And I _guess_ he was ok, I was too worked up to really care."

" _Eeeehhh?_ " Yuma stretched out the word, staring at me unflinchingly with his signature duckface. "Then why'd you go and lose? Don't you even know what happened?"

"Something happened?" I gave him a brief confused glance. "Whatever, **_I didn't lose_**. I was doing the dodging training, just like I said I was going to."

He froze, his steps coming to a halt.

I paused, spinning back to face him. "Huh? Why'd you stop?"

There was silence for a few more seconds before his head turned slowly and ominously, his easygoing expression not fading even as his hair cast a shadow over his eyes. "… _You were losing on purpose?_ "

" ** _I wasn't in the mood to fight anyone, I told you that before!_** " I nearly shrieked, flicking him in the side of the head. " _Do you ever listen to what I say?_ "

"So you really have no clue what he did…" He grumbled, his hand placed on his chin. "He didn't have time to apologize either, _wow_. That entire thing was really for nothing, huh?"

"What was for nothing?" I questioned impatiently, still in the dark about the situation. "And what would Midorikawa have to apologize for? It was just a Rank battle…"

" _She has no clue_ ," Jin confirmed god-knows-what to Yuma, who only nodded with a slightly irked expression. "But still, you were dodging Midorikawa's moves even better than four-eyes, and even without a side-effect to help you with it."

" _Hey, hey,_ ** _Jin-san_.**" I turned to him with a dark glare. " _Next time you provoke me,_ ** _I'm kicking you down the stairs. No hesitation_**."

"— _For people like that_ , I like to think of them as if they were animals when we fight," Yuma replied to Jin, the two of them ignoring me despite the bead of sweat I saw going down both of their temples. "A quote from my dad, ' _Humans are often illogical. It's sometimes better to read their behaviours and personalities_ '."

Jin hummed in agreement, and I reluctantly set aside my threat( _promise_ )with a huff.

"Midorikawa is pretty random…so you're better off regarding his fighting style similar to an animal, and mostly relying on instinct. Kikuchihara seemed to be a pretty flexible fighter though," Yuma elaborated.

"Probably cause of his side effect," I mumbled in agreement. "He could hear most of my attacks before they hit him, and his squad seems to be more focused on speed and stealth… Although he was focused on mostly strategic fighting, so an opposite to Midorikawa in that aspect."

" _Exactly_ ," Yuma nodded to me. "I knew Midorikawa was confident and proud, so I let him think he was better than me by giving him the first two wins. And when you lose to someone you consider lesser than you… you get angry. You lose your form, and start to get more panicked."

"Like casino dealers who let you win first, just before they wring you dry," Jin added with a grin.

" _He's not going to get that reference_ ," I mumbled uselessly, although I had no doubt that Jin already knew when he said it.

"…Midorikawa started to notice what I was doing towards the end though," Yuma added. "He started to get better, but there wasn't enough time to recover completely."

"He's definitely matured, hasn't he?" Jin said with a grin, finally coming to a halt in front of some large double doors. He pushed them apart nonchalantly, without giving me amount to prepare myself. " _Here we are~_ "

" ** _YOU'RE LATE!_** "

I jumped slightly, before calming down as I spotted Kinuta from across the room.

" _What have you been doing?!_ " He asked irritatedly, arms crossed over his chest, as per usual.

"Hi there~" Jin only waved lightheartedly, the door shutting with a click behind us.

Yotaro grinned with a smug sparkle in his eye. " _Sorry to keep you waiting_."

"Where's Yosuke, Yotaro?" Shiori asked curiously, expression turning slightly scolding.

" _He served his purpose_ ," Yotaro stated, and I smothered a snicker with a gloved hand.

" ** _Time is of essence_**." Kido interrupted, and any amusement I had faded instantly. " ** _Get this started_**."

I tapped the mini-Replica hiding in my collar. _"That's Commander Kido… don't piss him off, or we really will have to deal with the A-rank agents we went over a few weeks ago."_

 _"I'll be careful,"_ Yuma reassured, and I heard an encouraging buzz of static from Replica that made me relax slightly.

"Our scouts predict…" Shinoda spoke up right after Kido. "A large-scale invasion very soon. There were many casualties in the bombings the other week."

My eye twitched unnoticeably as a memory of the chaos went through my mind, but I pushed it aside without another thought.

"We'd like to be prepared to keep the damage to a minimum, and so, we'd like your opinion as a Neighbour."

"Hm," Yuma hummed. " _My_ opinion?"

"We know many countries of the Neighbourhood thanks to the away missions," Kinuta cut in. "But there's _not_ enough data! We need to know which countries are attacking, what weapons they would use, that fact that you're a Neighbour doesn't matter! As long as you are in Border, you will cooperate!"

"I see," Yuma nodded before tapping his ring encouragingly. " _In that case_ , it'd be quicker to ask my partner. He's definitely more well-versed in situations like this."

-0-

"Mikumo, Yuma."

The two of us turned around, facing the speaker.

" _Director Shinoda_ …"

He nodded in greeting. "I wanted to thank you for all your help today. Especially for all of the information regarding the Neighbourhood."

Yuma waved a hand, sipping on his drink nonchalantly. "It's no big deal. Just like the round guy—"

" _Kinuta-san_." I corrected idly.

"— **Kinuta** said, I'm part of Border."

"You made Kinuta-san very happy," Shinoda smiled. "He said the orbital map was worth 30 away missions."

" ** _30_**?!" I mumbled, shocked by the information. " _That much…? How many away missions do they have per year, anyway?_ "

"Neighbour Triggers have evolved independently," Replica added, now hidden from view out in the open. "Never underestimate them."

"I'll keep that in mind," Shinoda nodded. "Your father took me under his wing a long time ago. I'm sorry Yugo passed away, _but I'm glad I met you_. If there's anything I can do, please let me know. Kido-san may not say anything, but I know he's concerned. He knew your father the longest."

Yuma hummed, eyes flickering with an emotion that I wouldn't dare point out in front of others. "Thanks for the offer."

" _In fact_ ," Shinoda went on. "I'd like to promote you to an official agent if you're interested. You're fully capable for the position, what do you think, Yuma?"

Yuma paused.

"…A full agent…? **_No thanks_**." He lifted a hand calmly. " _I can make it there myself_."

Shinoda appeared startled, obviously not expecting the refusal. " _Are you sure?_ Once you're an agent, you can go on defence duty. You can help in the upcoming attack as well."

Yuma shrugged, uncaring. "Yeah, but I'd be a solo agent for a while until Mori makes it to B-rank too. Besides, _I'm a Neighbour_. If I don't make it up the ladder on my own, it might be difficult for others to accept my position."

Shinoda waited for a moment, before nodding. "You're right. I apologize, I wasn't thinking."

"No, it's no problem." Yuma waved a hand. " **Besides, _it's not like I'll have to wait long anyway_**."

There was a short pause.

"… _What_ …?"

Yuma turned to me with a smug grin. "We can make it to B-rank right now if we wanted. Some C-ranks stay at the base until really late, we can speed through this _no problem_."

" _What_?" I hissed. " _Where the hell did you learn about that_?!"

" ** _Jin told me_** ," He revealed with a smug grin, before poking me in the side. " _What do you say_ , let's rank-up right now! There'll be no problems, I know you can do it!"

"Uh, _no thanks_ ," I refused. "Unlike **_your_** _Trion-formulated-ass_ , I need to sleep. I'm not staying at the base until midnight so that we can fulfil one of your _silly little whims_."

"Jeez, **_what a hypocrite_** …" He sighed, and the two of us knew exactly what he was talking about. "It doesn't need to take **_that_** _long_ , as long as you don't lose to anyone."

" _Forget it!_ " I jabbed him in the side of the head with my elbow. " _It's not happening_ , we have school tomorrow!"

He huffed, jabbing me in the side as retaliation. " _Fine_ then."

He turned away slightly, and I was eerily reminded of Midorikawa as he mumbled something under his breath.

" ** _…I guess you think you can't do it, huh?_** "

I froze.

'…. _Are you serious, Mori? Twice in the same day…?_ '

"Bring it on, **_MIDGET_**." I growled menacingly, and he spun around with a bright, innocent smile that fooled absolutely no one.

" _I knew you'd see it my way!_ "

The two of us were so caught up in our competitiveness, that we missed Shinoda staring at us with a fond smile, before sighing and turning away, heading back to the meeting room we had left not too long ago ourselves.

-0-

I pushed the door open carefully, and Yuma and I flinched when it let out a horribly eerie creak.

" _Shh_." He shushed me, and I refrained from rearing back my elbow to hit him in the face.

" _I'm trying to be quiet, you shrimp_ ," I hissed lowly, peeling my shoes off of my feet as I groped around in the darkness blindly. " _God, this was a terrible idea_."

" _It was a fantastic idea_." I heard him huff in the darkness. " _If only you didn't insist on visiting the desk-administration-place to get us proper B-rank Triggers, we would've been fine_."

I groaned, grabbing his hand and leading him up the stairs. " _Replica, can you analyze the stairs to check which ones will creak and which ones won't?_ "

 _"I can."_

There was a long pause, and I sighed heavily into the darkness.

"… _But you just don't want to. Understandable, have a good day_."

" _We have school tomorrow_ ," Yuma whispered smugly. " _C'mon, you have to go to sleep_."

I really did elbow him in the face this time, but the only thing I heard in response was a nearly silent laugh.

… _Smug fucker_.

I finally reached the door that they'd been lending me for the past few weeks, and opened the door to let the two of us in.

As soon as Yuma shut the door behind him, I flicked the lights on and squinted in displeasure as light assaulted my eyes. "I texted my mom hours ago that'd I'd be staying here overnight," I pushed him into the corner and threw a blanket over his head. "I need to change, sit there and _don't move a goddamn muscle_."

" _Why'd you let me in here then…?_ " His whisper came out slightly muffled by the cloth. "You could've just let me go to my room."

"… _I'm too tired to think properly_ ," I mumbled as I quickly changed. Once I finished, I ripped the other blankets and pillows off of the bed, throwing them into the corner I put Yuma in.

"What just hit me?" I heard him ask curiously, the only response he received being a tired groan, just before I belly flopped onto the padded area beside him.

" _Nothin_ '," I slurred, blackness already appearing at the edges of my vision as I yanked a blanket over my shoulders. "... _G'night_."

-0-

"Latelatelatelate _WE'RELATE!_ "

"It's not my fault," Yuma grumbled, carelessly sipping a glass of water. "It's not like I'm keeping track of time until morning, and you didn't set an alarm."

I set a hand on his shoulder, bending down as that I was eye level with him. "Hey, if you don't have anything useful to add? _Please shut up_."

"… ** _I'll go get my bag_** _,_ " He speed-walked over to his room.

" _Good_ ," I pushed my uniform blazer over my shoulders with a huff. "It's too early for this, why did we have to stay up so late…?"

"Ah, morning, four-eyes." Jin stepped into the kitchen and stuffed a piece of toast into his mouth. "Don't worry, you and Yuma'll make it to school on time. **_My side-effect tells me so_**."

" _Does it now_ ," I grumbled, shoving my books into my bag. "You can tell your _damn side effect to_ —" I trailed off with a groan. " ** _Never mind_**. Thanks for the warning, _I guess._ "

" _Mmhm_ ," He nodded, still chewing on the toast.

I paused, turning towards him with my eye twitching. "…Are you still in your Trion body?"

"Maybe," He swallowed his breakfast and gave me a smug grin.

"… _I really don't want to know_ ," I caught a glimpse of Yuma already heading out the door, and I twitched. "I have to go, I'll see you—"

" ** _Four-eyes_**."

I froze, turning to him questioningly as Jin's expression grew serious.

"…Yeah?"

He hesitated for a moment, and there was a flash in his eyes of an emotion I couldn't decipher.

"… ** _Don't do anything stupid_**."

I blinked. " _Being stupid is part of who I am_ , Jin-san."

( _I think that was what tipped me off_ )

I stared at him slowly, my eyebrows slowly drawing together.

"…What did you see?"

( _I really should have known_ )

He blinked at me, before his lips lifted upwards into something that I would have described as a very convincing( _fake_ ) smile.

( _I really should've tried harder to understand him_ )

" ** _Nothing_**."

' _I'm not putting up with this right now_.'

I slung my bag over my shoulder, and on the way to the door, kicked him hard enough that he fell over.

"Bye Rindou-san, have a good day!" I called out to the branch office right before I left. "And Jin, _next time I see you, I'm kicking you down the nearest set of stairs for your bullshit!_ "

-0-

 ** _The barrel of a sniper rife, pressed against the back of a young girl's head._**

 ** _Her purple eyes widened in shock, a hint of betrayal leaking into her pupils._**

 ** _There was a shot, a flash of light, and a robotic hum as the clouds overhead blocked out the sun._**

 ** _And yet for a moment, there was utter silence._**

 ** _A brilliantly glowing cube in hand, as the person trekked into the wreckage._**

-0-

Yuma stared at Mori, an eyebrow raised questioningly.

"… _What was that about…_?"

She scowled and huffed. "Nothing. _There were just no stairs nearby at the moment_."

"…I see. Never mind then," He turned away, facing forward instead. "Should we run to the school?"

" ** _You_** _can_ ," Mori conceded grumpily. " _I'm not in the mood though_."

"I see," Yuma poked her in the side, watching her narrowed eyes slowly relax as she calmed down. "At least we got the Trigger thing over with last night, right?"

"More like _this morning_ ," Mori grumbled. "And it wasn't just a ' _Trigger thing_ '. Even if we went through official channels to get a proper B-rank Trigger, they're still not equipped with anything other than our starter Triggers at the moment. We have to go get other kinds to fill out the entire Trigger set, but we can go over that with Shiori later."

"What were you planning on putting in?" He asked curiously. "There were a ton of shooter triggers to pick from…"

Mori relaxed more, thankful for the small talk her friend was indulging in.

"…Probably Viper. My side-effect would probably work well with it."

Yuma hummed in agreement.

"And maybe a Kogetsu, for short range… I don't really know quite yet, I'll have to try it out first to see what I'm comfortable with."

"If you add in a sword, it might throw off your balance," Yuma contributed helpfully. "And you'll have less space for the bullet Triggers."

" _That's true_ …" She trailed off. "I guess it really depends if I want to be an all-rounder… or if I want to commit to being a shooter. It all really depends…" She paused. " _I can't do this right now_. My brain is crashing, I didn't get enough sleep."

-0-

"Hey _, what's this_?"

I opened my bag with a frustrated groan. " ** _That bastard_**."

Yuma clicked his tongue at me disapprovingly. "He got us lunch, don't call him a bastard."

" _Fine_ ," I scowled. "Jin's a meddling, piece of…" I paused to think of a good word. "… _Garbage_."

Yuma shook his head with a duckface and lifted a spoonful of the rice into his mouth.

"Still, it's not bad," He chewed with a satisfied expression. "It might wake you up, go on and eat."

I huffed, opening the container tiredly. "I guess… Jeez, I'm so glad we made B-rank so late last night."

"Why?" Yuma asked curiously, tilting his head.

"Ok, _so one of the kids in our class_ …" I shovelled some of the rice into my mouth. "…I think his name is _Miyoshi_ …? Whatever, I hear he's a super Border nerd. Memorizes all of the Border agent names that go on the PR page. _AKA_ ** _, all of them_**."

"Wow, that **_is_** weird," Yuma chuckled. "What would happen if somebody didn't want others to know they were part of Border? Can they _ask_ to not get their name put up?"

I hummed. " _I don't actually know_. Maybe you can ask…?"

"Mori, Yuma."

The two of us glanced up quickly, Chika sliding the roof door open with a smile.

"Oh, Li—" I cut off when I saw somebody behind her. "— _Chika_ , how're you doing?"

She smiled at me and her friend closed the door behind her, leaving the four of us alone on the roof. "I'm fine. You two didn't leave Border until late, did you?"

I heard her friend mutter a quiet ' _brr, cold_ ', and I waved them over to sit beside us. "No, we didn't get to. _It was_ …"

I blanked out for a second, and Yuma laughed lightly.

" _More like early_ , everything took way too long." He paused. "By the way, who's that with you?"

"Izuho. She's one of the trainee snipers along with me," Chika introduced politely, and Izuho nodded.

"Natsume Izuho. Nice to meet you."

Yuma got up briefly to bow, and I gave my own small, tired bow from where I was sitting. "Nice to meet you—"

"—Izuho." I interrupted Yuma before he could lose his grip on common sense again. "Pleasure."

"Nice to meetcha." She bowed casually in return.

I glanced at the two of them as they sat down by the railings nearby before turned to Yuma as I shoved the rest of my lunchbox into my mouth.

"Since we're _technically_ B-rank now, do we have any duties scheduled yet?"

Yuma shook his head. "I don't think so… But it's a good thing we made B-rank so quickly, huh? Now we can fight off Neighbours for _whenever_ the invasion happens."

I shook my head tiredly. " _I don't want to fight during the invasion_ …" I coughed. "I might _die_ with how dumb I am."

I pushed Jin's strange behaviour from this morning out of my head.

"And even if we didn't make B-rank," I continued. "I heard yesterday that we can use the trainee Triggers to evacuate the citizens and help out people that need rescuing. I can help out civilians… and we can leave the fighting to the A-ranks and the more skilled B-ranks."

He hummed in thought and I shrugged while blankly staring straight ahead in a tired daze.

I blinked curiously as the sky turned a shade darker. " _Wha_ —?"

Chika jolted as her eyes darkened slightly. I flinched as she instinctively stood up straight, and the sky continued to grow darker.

I heard the crackle of lightning in the distance before the force of the alarm slammed into us. There was a loud beeping noise from the Triggers in Yuma and I's pockets, and I pulled it out as quickly as I could.

" _An emergency summons…?!_ "

Trion filled lightning rained upon the city, and gates began to open quicker than I could even blink.

 ** _"WARNING: A GATE IS OPENING. LARGE-SCALE OUTBREAK OF GATES CONFIRMED. ANYONE IN THE VICINITY OF THE EMERGENCE AREA… PLEASE EVACUATE AT ONCE."_**

( _The large-scale invasion… has begun_.)


	6. Strike Back

A/N - Just here with another big thanks- HOLY SHIT THANK YOU EVERYONE THAT EVEN BOTHERS TO FAVOURITE, FOLLOW, OR REVIEW! IT MEANS _**SO**_ MUCH TO ME!

* _cough_ * Sorry about my silly author's note, just a quick warning that this chapter, and likely the rest of the invasion arc, is probably going to be very choppy! I'm still a beginner writer and while I'm improving my writing as I go, but there's not much I can do for this arc for now! Many thanks to those who still bother to read, it means the world to me!

-0-

"Alright, no time to ponder!" Yuma yelled, effectively snapping me out of my daze. "What's the plan, captain?"

I flashed him a quick grateful smile, before turning to Chika with a grave expression. "Chika, Natsume! You two are still C-ranks, you should go help evacuate the citizens!"

"Okay," She nodded seriously, pulling her Trigger out of her pocket.

"No problem, four-eyes!" Natsume saluted, following soon after.

"As for Yuma and I…" I groaned.

"Looks like we'll be right in the thick of it," Yuma smirked, twirling his B-rank Trigger in his hand. "Too bad for you."

"…Yeah, we'll go deal with as many of the Neighbours as we can." The three of us hurriedly walked down the stairs from the roof, and I slipped my hand into my pocket. "Chika, I want you to use your Trigger if a Neighbour comes near you or the civilians… You have the… Ibis equipped, right?"

She nodded. "Natsume has one too."

"Alright, remember," I threw open the door to the ground level. "Protect yourself. You hear me?"

She hesitated, before agreeing. "Roger."

I turned back to Natsume. "Make sure the two of you don't get hurt."

She nodded with a grim expression. "I will."

"Yuma, let's head out!" I called out, and he subtly passed along a mini-Replica to her as we passed by, unseen by Natsume.

"Now you're talking!" He cheered. "Chika, we'll come to rescue you if anything goes wrong!"

Before she could respond, we were off.

"Trigger, on!"

-0-

"Border and the Trion soldiers have engaged in battle."

"Things have started up already?" I asked, shocked. " _So quickly_?! We barely started moving!"

"Border is quite formidable," Replica commented, voice coming from the Mini-Replica beside us. "The Trion soldiers are quite spread out and have the advantage in numbers."

"They're coming from the emergence area… and spreading out from there," Yuma observed. "It's weird, they're practically backing themselves into a corner."

"Indeed," Replica agreed easily, pausing for a moment in thought. "…As soon as all of the off-duty agents catch up, the Trion soldiers will be swiftly dealt with, this appears too easy."

"Wait, but aren't these supposedly the guys that sent all of the Rads?!" I questioned, unable to stay silent. "Then they _should_ have an approximate guess as to how many agents Border has, right? Why are they still going through with the attack then?!"

"Well, if they're still doing it with no hesitation…" Yuma's expression went grim. "Then they still think they have a shot at victory… Either that or they're _desperate_."

"And desperate wars…" Replica picked up. "…This is _so unlikely_ for them, since battles like that…"

He paused.

"Usually… **_lead to the creation of black Triggers_**."

I sharply inhaled, simultaneously stumbling over my own feet.

"They must have a good reason for scattering their forces," Yuma's hand twitched, as if ready to reach out and help me up if I almost tripped again.

"Good reason or not, we aren't coming out of this war without a victory!" I yelled. "We've seen in ourselves, Border agents aren't exactly pushovers! Tamakoma agents even less so!"

We turned the corner, and at that exact moment, a Marmod showed itself.

It's claw raised menacingly as my eyes slowly drifted upwards towards the eye-like core in its mouth.

"—I think this was a mistaa _aaaa_ ** _WHOAAAA!_** "

Yuma yanked me out of the way, and the claw shattered the pavement under our feet at Yuma dragged me off towards the side.

" _Keep your head in the game!_ " He yelled with a slight smirk, and I scowled embarrassedly.

I aimed a Meteora towards the Marmods head, and the eye-like-core shattered instantly against the force of the explosion. " **SHUT IT!** "

He laughed and launched himself towards a nearby Bamster, Scorpion lashing out as he swiftly sliced through its core.

I jumped towards another Marmod, jumping over it as I attached some bullets to the backside along the way. I bent my legs and kicked off, triggering the explosions to boost me further into the air.

As I touched back down to the ground, I glanced around warily. "Is that all of them over here?"

"I _think_ so," Yuma called out from where he was casually crouching on the Bamster's corpse. "I can distantly hear some explosions… either we've got more _explosion-happy Border agents_ —"

" ** _Really?_** " I mumbled exasperatedly.

"— _Or_ there're some Vanders hanging around." Yuma finished. "I hope somebody deals with those things **soon** , _or else_ —"

 ** _"Shinoda-san! Azuma here!"_**

Yuma and I jumped somewhat startled, and my hand rose to touch the area where the noise came from.

"A _communicator_?" Yuma mumbled distractedly.

 ** _"We've encountered a new type of Trion soldier. It's over three meters tall, a bipedal humanoid, small, but powerful! It's trying to capture our agents!"_**

"A B-rank Trigger comes equipped with a _communicator_ and a _Bail out_ function…!" I recalled. "I completely forgot."

 ** _"Alright… Try to hold out until reinforcements arrive!"_**

"There's a new Trion soldier?" I repeated, focusing intently on the communicator.

"I see," Replica hummed. "So that's their plan."

The wire-like appendage slowly trailed out of his mouth and I blinked confusedly as he jabbed it against my head.

" _Wha_ —?"

Yuma shushed me, watching with a slightly amused expression as Replica let out a robotic whirr.

"Connection established," He intoned dully. **"Director Shinoda, this new type is probably the capture-type Trion soldier Aftokrator was developing. _The Rabbit_."**

Replica withdrew the wire from my temple, a connection to HQ now successfully established.

 ** _"Capture type?! Isn't that what the big one is for?"_**

I turned to Yuma with a questioning expression, and he mouthed ' _Bamster_ ' to me.

 **"It has the same purpose, yes."** Replica agreed. **"But the Rabbit… is specifically designed to take on and capture Trigger users."**

I cut the communicator off for myself for a moment, allowing Replica to continue speaking with them as I turned to Yuma. "Alright…" I grumbled. "So what's the game plan here?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Up to you. I could probably take a Rabbit with my black Trigger, _but_ …" He hummed. "That would leave you on your own. If another one were to pop up once we get separated, you'd be doomed."

" _I want to disagree, but_ …" I sighed, the distant sound of destruction reaching my ears. "…I'd be captured, no doubt."

"And I don't even have permission to use my Trigger," He chuckled lightheartedly. "For all we know, HQ could try to kill me as soon as this is all over if I use it without consent."

"Wait, that's all that's stopping you?" I asked rhetorically, eyebrow quirked. I tapped the side of my head, turning my communicator back on.

 ** _"Commander Shinoda!"_** I began fearlessly( _surprisingly enough, where're all these small bursts of confidence coming from?_ ). **_"Permission for Kuga Yuma to use his black Trigger to fight off the enemy Neighbours?"_**

There was a moment of dead silence, in which I imagined Netsuki and Kinuta whipping their heads around to each other in slight panic and pure shock.

 ** _"Permission granted!"_** Shinoda verified clearly, and I flashed my partner-in-crime a peace sign.

"Alright, we got the _O-K_ ," I grinned shakily. "Whenever you're ready—"

"Mori."

I paused, turning to Replica questioningly. "Yeah?"

Replica hovered over Yuma's shoulder, and the boy gave me a slightly concerned glance. "…You're nervous."

I jolted, shifting my arm so that it was clear for me to see that yes, _my limbs were shaking like leaves_.

"… _I'm fine_ ," I mumbled. "I'm fine. We'll get through this."

He nodded. "As long as you know, _we'll get through this_. **_I won't let you or Chika die_**."

A Vander burst through a nearby building, shattered debris falling to the ground as Marmods crawled through the hole, and Bado's crashed through the remaining walls to get to our side. Trion soldiers flooded the area as I took a deep breath.

"Yeah," I readied an array of Meteora bullets, my expression focusing as I counted the Trion soldiers instantly.

"…I won't let the two of you guys die either. _Nor anybody else_."

' _6 Marmod's, 2 Bado's, 1 Vander. Jeez, I guess Yuma didn't quiz me on these things for nothing after all…_ '

I saw Yuma grin from the corner of my eye, just before he shot off like a bullet towards the nearest Marmod.

" _Wait_ , **_you're leaving me on my own?!_** "

A Marmod Charged at me in response, and I ducked underneath it and ran off to the side. I stuck out my hand and created three bullets, watching them soar towards the legs holding its body upright.

"Meteora!"

There were three loud ' _BOOM_ 's, and I moved to the side when another claw was thrust at where I had just been.

"We should've gotten more Triggers last night, _I wish I had some sort of sword!_ " I yelled over to Yuma, and I heard him distantly reply with a cheeky ' _It was actually this morning!_ '

My eye twitched and I blew up another Marmod.

"Why are all of these Trion soldiers coming towards us all of a sudden?!" I called out, ducking underneath a Bado that swooped down a little too close to my head for comfort.

 ** _"The Rabbits are being targeted by the other agents,"_** Yuma spoke through his communicator to me, Scorpion jabbing into the Vanders core. **_"Border can't spread out any more than this, or else there'll be too many holes in their defences."_**

"Once the agents scatter to efficiently deal with the Trion soldiers, the Rabbits will capture them," Replica spoke into my ear. "But if they put all of their manpower into killing the Rabbits, the Trion soldiers will run rampant on the city."

"Oh, _lovely_ ," I growled, shooting at another Marmod. " _We're being manipulated because their numbers are greater_ …"

"But I think focusing on the Rabbits is the right course of action," Yuma added, swinging his sword again. "If we were to actually prioritize the Trion soldiers, they'd come after us anyway, and we'd only be distracted while protecting the city."

I grit my teeth and I jumped away from another Bado. " _What about the civilians—?!_ "

I was cut off as another nearby building exploded, the Bados swooping in from the sky and crashing into the nearby obstacles.

I shielded my head with my arms as I dashed towards the nearby Marmod corpse, taking cover behind it. Yuma joined me not long after, the two of us peeking over it as more Trion soldiers swarmed towards us.

" _Ok_ —" I took a deep breath. "If we let them through, Chika'll be in danger," I paused, idly shooting another Meteora at a Marmod that got a little too close to us. "What do we do…?"

"I could clear them out pretty quickly with my black Trigger," Yuma muttered. "I can tell you're trying to be careful with your explosions because of the buildings… But with my black Trigger, I'd be much more agile."

"Yeah, _that's probably true_." I hissed, glaring at the Bado's circling around our position from way up above. "We can't take all of them on as we are right now… And retreating just **_isn't_** _an option_. We need some kind of boost."

"…All of the B-ranks have been ordered to gather," Replica cut in, being the only one really listening to the communicator. "HQ's plan is to clear out each section one-by-one to avoid being caught off guard by any Rabbits that may appear… some destruction to the city will be inevitable."

My eyes widened, and I swung around to meet Yuma's own shocked eyes. " _But if they're doing it by priority—!_ "

I was cut off as a Marmod crushed the corpse we were hiding behind without mercy, and many others swarmed around us. I cursed and shot off another Meteora, the explosion clearing out enough space so I could get my next words through.

"— _Chika's area will be left for last since they're clearing it out much quicker!_ "

The mini-Replica hummed( _how does a robot manage to sound so_ ** _blatantly_** _irritated?!_ ) from where it was floating around next to me, and I saw Yuma grit his teeth as he swung his Scorpion at a Marmod. I couldn't help but notice the movement a bit more aggravated than usual.

Yuma kicked off of the Neighbours dead body and touched down on the ground as he swung his head towards me. " _We need to_ —"

Once again, we were cut off as a nearby building exploded outwards from the top floor.

My head swung around towards it, but my eyes only registered a white blur, just before I launched myself sideways with a smaller, hastily formed explosion to help boost me.

The white blur landed harshly where I had been not even a moment before, and the dust cleared quickly as my eyes widened.

"It's a Rabbit." Replica warned, and I nodded hurriedly before I circled around it to meet up with Yuma.

"— _Aren't these things able to deal with_ ** _A-rankers_** _?!_ " I shrieked. "There's no way I'm going near that thing!"

Yuma scowled, readying his Scorpion. "We don't _really_ have a choice!" He launched himself at it without another word, Scorpion twisting around and catching on the edge of its mouth. He jumped off again, twisting his sword upwards as he prepared to cleave it into two.

The Rabbit reacted violently though, it's arm swinging around wildly as it swatted Yuma down the street and into a nearby wall.

" _Oh jeez!_ " I threw up both arms and aimed the Meteora cubes towards its face before spinning around on my feet and bolting before I could see the damage.

' _Where the fuck did Yuma go?!_ ' A hiss of air made it through my clenched teeth, and I grabbed my hand with the other to try and stop the incessant shaking. "Replica, could you give me a boost?"

There was a low whirr. "…. _Granted_. **Boost** , **Quadra**."

An orange seal appeared, hovering over both sides of my forearms as I stood up and aimed both palms at the Rabbit, which was rapidly approaching me.

" _Meteora_ —" I yelled, one large cube forming in front of me. "— ** _FOUR-FOLD!_** "

The cube, which I never separated and instead shot itself as a single force, and formed something of a cannon as it launched itself towards the Rabbit.

The bullet hit it head on and I could see through the bright light that it had raised both arms in an attempt to protect itself. The Meteora blew up on impact, the force from the explosion so strong that it caused me to fall backwards.

I struggled against the physical force of the impact, the mini-Replica beside me having fallen to the ground.

My mouth strained to open, but I pressed on and inhaled to yell regardless. " ** _YUMA_**!"

Through the chaos, a shadowed figure kicked off from their nearby hiding spot, leaping over and above the crumbling Rabbit. I could faintly see an orange seal on the figure, hovering over the spot that I guessed was his arm.

Yuma held his Scorpion in a reverse grip, both hands clutching it as he stuck downwards. The blade sliced clean through the Rabbits head, cutting the core clean in half as its final movements ceased, and it fell limp as Yuma landed heavily on the shattered remains of its head.

-0-

There was silence all around, and I took the pause of silence to glance around the battlefield as the rush of the moment finally calmed down.

Most of the street had been reduced to rubble from my black Trigger enhanced, single-shot Meteora. The Marmod's around had been thrown by the sonic boom caused by the explosion, similar to how Replica and I had been. Their cores had been crushed by flying debris as well as their own weight when they smashed against each other, and the majority that had survived the initial explosion had been swiftly assassinated by Yuma during the chaos.

Yuma stood up from where he was crouching on the shattered Rabbit with a triumphant expression. "…Mori! _We did it_!"

The mini-Replica beside me raised from where it had fallen, hovering in between us as the seals over our arms faded from view. "…I believe you two are the first to have taken a Rabbit down."

"Oh, **_sweet_**!" Yuma grinned as he brutally retrieved the Scorpion from where it was buried in the Rabbit's head. "You hear that, Mori?"

I shakily nodded, hurriedly scrambling to my feet. "I-I think... _that was too much excitement for a whole year_."

"The invasion is not even close to being finished," Replica intoned darkly, and I drooped slightly from where I was. "That was a single Rabbit of many… _and the destruction caused to this section of the city_ …"

I sent a slightly remorseful grimace to our surroundings and sighed heavily when I saw another Marmod twitching from down the street.

"At least that shot didn't take up _too much Trion_ ," I shot a bullet towards the Trion soldier as quickly as I could. "Those seals are overpowered… _That boost was_ ** _insane_**."

Yuma twitched as some noise was heard form over a hill of rubble, and I turned my head as two Border agents stepped up and over.

" _Chano squad here!_ " The boy with the hat yelled out, aiming a gun around every corner as he nodded to us hurriedly. " ** _C-ranks_** , please evacuate the area!"

The two of them cast a bewildered glance around to the shattered and battered street around us, but their eyes, unfortunately, focused mostly on our _not-yet-updated_ , **C-rank uniforms**.

I shared an uneasy look with Yuma, while Replica hid behind my back shamelessly. " _Uh_ , we're B-ranks. We just—!"

" _Mikumo, Yuma!_ You two are B-ranks already?!"

I froze, and Yuma turned his head upwards with a whistle. "Ooh, _Arashiyama_!" He waved nonchalantly, and I composed myself as I nodded back to Arashiyama, Kitora and Tokieda from where they were situated on the nearby roof.

"Yeah, we ranked-up it yesterday," I picked up. " _This white-haired moron insisted on challenging me yesterday_ …" I shot him a quick glare, much to their amusement, and Yuma smugly grinned.

"… _Challenging_?" Kitora repeated, the three of them effortlessly jumping down from the higher level. "There was a winner and a loser?"

My eye twitched, and I sighed heavily. Chano squad was still watching the two of our squads with a bewildered expression, Tokieda made sure to politely wave to them as he passed by.

"…Yeah, Yuma made it to 4,000 points _yesterday_ , at around 10."

The teen himself pointed at me with a definitely smug expression. " ** _Captain_** over here, only got to B-rank at 2 _this morning_."

" ** _You two were up until 2?!_** " Arashiyama yelled worriedly, hurrying over to the two of us like a worried older brother. " _That's not a good thing to make a habit of! You'll be too tired during the day—!_ "

" **Are we disregarding the fact that they made it to B-rank in less than two weeks?!** " Kitora interrupted, shocked.

"… _Are we disregarding the fact that we're in the middle of a large-scale invasion right now?_ " Tokieda smoothly cut in, aiming his gun to the side, single-handedly shooting one of the Marmods crawling over the rubble.

Kitora and Arashiyama had the decency to look embarrassed, but Yuma only scratched his head sheepishly.

"Anyhow, nice to see you, Tokieda," Yuma bowed lightly, and the two of us finally reached up to turn our communicators back on.

" _Wait_ , you two aren't keeping your communicators on?!" Kitora began scoldingly, and I waved her away blandly to avoid the impending argument.

Before I could say anything, a garbled mess of static screeched into my ear, and I shut the radio off with a violent wince. Yuma made a similarly displeased noise from behind me, and Arashiyama tapped his own communicator in confusion.

 ** _"HQ?"_**

There was another mess of noise that I could hear from where I was, and he whipped his head around in a flash to glance at the base. My own eyes followed not too soon after, pupils focusing on the large shadows in the air above HQ.

"Holy shit, _THAT'S AN ILLGAR!_ " I yelled, watching in slight horror as the rest of us swung around, eyes wide as they noticed exactly what Arashiyama and I were looking at.

None of us moved as the Illgar closest to the base crashed down, self-destructing against the Trion fortified walls.

" _Was it destroyed?!_ " Chano yelled worriedly, and Arashiyama shook his head certainly.

"No… Kinuta-san reinforced the walls in preparation for the invasion!" He yelled. "With the other two of them though, _they won't last!_ "

"Oh, _that's not good…!_ " I held my hand over my eyes as I squinted, trying to focus on the Illgars. I stared intently on one, noting idly that HQ was focusing their cannons on the other Trion soldier. " **Are they ok…?** "

I cut off with a choke as my eyes focused on a new detail that I had nearly missed.

"Mori?" Yuma tilted his head as Kitora and Tokieda turned to me questioningly. "You ok?"

I sputtered for a few more moments, just before my eyes flickered over to the small black blur jumping off of the Illgar.

The now.

 _Very Dead._

 ** _Illgar.  
_**

" _Border is full of monsters_ ," I muttered( _I DID_ ** _NOT_** _WHIMPER_ ). "Yuma, _please do not tell me that I just saw a single Border agent cut down that entire Illgar_ ** _in an instant_**."

Yuma glanced up at the sky above the base curiously before humming contemplatively. "…Nope, that was definitely what just happened."

"Tachikawa-san cut down one of the bombers!" Arashiayama reported to the rest of us, filling Kitora and Tokieda in on what just happened. "HQ is fine," He smiled lightly as he shot down another Marmod.

" _Tachikawa_ … Oh, that guy," Yuma nodded as he redid his sword again. " _No wonder Mori's scared out of her skin_ , that guy's the top attacker."

I swirled around to him angrily, shooting another Meteora down the street. " _I AM_ ** _NOT_** _SCARED OUT OF MY SKIN!_ "

"But still, to cut down an Illgar in self-destruct mode…" Yuma hummed as he leapt upwards and kicked a Bamster in the head. "And with a regular Border Trigger, _no less_."

"Even you're impressed by that?" I turned to Yuma curiously. "By the way, how did you deal with them?"

"I just dragged it down into the river with a chain and a boost, since they're tougher to break through in self-destruct mode," He frowned. "The Trion density is tough, maybe _even stronger_ than the arms of the Rabbit."

"Are the arms that tough?" I thought out loud curiously. "I broke through it with a Meteora."

"Replica and I boosted it for you though," Yuma pointed out. "And you poured a bit more Trion into that shot, _it was huge_."

I noticed the five from Arashiyama and Chano squad jolt slightly eyes flickering towards the respective side for their communicators. I motioned for Yuma to turn his radio back on, just as my own hand rose to my own ear.

 ** _"—orry for the garbled radio."_** Shinoda's voice echoed, the tail end of the apology filtering into my ear. **_"So you took down one of the new models?"_**

 ** _"No,"_** Arashiyama denied, and the five Border agents eyes flickered back towards the shattered remains of the Rabbit. **_"Agents Mikumo and Agent Kuga had already taken it down by the time that Chano squad and my own got here."_**

 ** _"The black Trigger?!"_** I heard Kinuta yell, and I tapped the radio impatiently.

 ** _"No, the two of us took it down with our Border Triggers!"_** I corrected, and Yuma grinned with a touch of smugness. ** _"But also, I have a request!"_**

I waited for a denial, before speaking up as the silence reigned. **_"Yuma and I have a teammate helping to evacuate the civilians with the rest of the C-rank trainees! We need to go provide backup, as we heard that the evacuated areas will be left until later!"_**

I heard Shinoda start to speak up, but the two of us were cut off by a sharp voice.

 ** _"If Kuga Yuma were to go along with Mikumo Mori to support the C-rank trainees… The permission that was previously given to use his black Trigger, would be reinstated."_**

I distantly recognized the voice as Kido and frowned, just as Yuma's expression morphed into something more irritated. ** _"…Why is that?"_**

 ** _"If Kuga were to use his black Trigger around civilians, it's a possibility that he could be mistaken for a humanoid Neighbour. I cannot allow him to use his black Trigger in the city, and he would have to move into the Emergence area to regain permission. If these conditions are not to your liking… Kuga may accompany Arashiyama squad to continue eliminating Trion soldiers."_**

He paused. **_"We are still unsure of how effective your black Trigger is against the new models, so I will allow you to protect your teammate if you do not use the Trigger."_**

There was a pregnant pause, and Yuma turned to me with a slightly remorseful expression.

"…Do you think that you can handle it all on your own?"

I hesitated but nodded after a moment. "I don't think I have a choice. Are you fine with Arashiyama squad?"

He brushed his forearm against his cheek, frowning slightly. "…If somebody's in danger, I won't hesitate to use my black Trigger. I'm better off using it where I'm _allowed_ to anyway… _or else I'll end up causing more trouble for you and everyone at Tamakoma_."

I inhaled deeply, letting a scowl twist my face as I slapped my hand against the side of my head harshly, not pausing to regret the action as I noticed Kitora and Arashiyama wince. **_"Fine! I'll go alone to go protect agent Amatori, is that to your satisfaction?"_**

Kido didn't seem to find my sarcasm amusing, as his tone was icy. ** _"You might want to take somebody else with you, or you'll be killed off by a new model in no time at all."_**

Yuma made a quick duckface to try and lighten up my mood, which I greatly appreciated. He turned on his black Trigger idly as I composed myself, preparing to run all the way to Chika and defend her, with only Replica by my side.

 ** _"Arashiyama-san, Commander Kido."_**

I jolted slightly, surprised at the new voice.

Kitora stood up straight, steeping slightly ahead of me as she looked Arashiyama in the eyes. **_"I request permission to accompany Mikumo. You see…"_** She tilted her head, glancing at us from the corner of her eyes.

 _"I owe these two."_

"Kitora..." I hesitated. "…-san."

"Sure! Protect the city for us," Arashiyama agreed with a smile. **_"Is that alright with you, Director Shinoda?"_**

 ** _"That's fine, I'll leave it up to you!"_**

 ** _"Good,"_** Arashiyama nodded. "Chano squad, join up with the rest of the B-rank squads."

The two of them saluted. "Roger!"

Arashiyama paused before turning back to both me and Kitora, hand on his communicator. **_"Also, Satori, would you accompany Kitora and Mikumo?"_**

 ** _"WHAT?!"_**

-0-

I tapped Replica( _who had been hiding in my uniforms collar_ ), slightly ignoring Kitora's surprised and questioning glance.

"Replica's a Trion soldier that's attached to Yuma's black Trigger," I explained quickly, before turning back to Replica. "Connect me to Chika."

He ' _nodded_ ' and hummed for a moment as we jumped along the house roofs.

 _"—ori? Mori?"_

"Hey, Chika," I greeted as normally as I could. "There were some complications, I'm heading back towards your position to help protect you."

 ** _"Hey, we're here too!"_**

I nodded agreeably. "—Yeah, Satori-san and Kitora-san from Arashiyama squad are also heading over there with me. See you soon."

I heard some shuffling cloth, before Chika's voice sounded through again. _"Yeah, I'll be waiting for you."_

Replica cut off the connection with a hiss of static, and I let out a sigh of relief. "Alright, she's still safe."

"She may not be for long," Kitora pointed out bluntly. "This place is _crawling_ with Trion soldiers, definitely more than there were for the first invasion four and a half years ago. Satori, how are things on your end?"

The communicator in my ear hissed slightly. **_"Still good! I'm trying to snipe any of the Neighbours that are taller than the houses, so I'm still lagging behind slightly."_**

"…It still does not make any sense," Replica thought out loud, connecting his voice to my communications line once again.

 ** _"Ooh! Is that the Replica-guy you mentioned?"_** Satori asked, and I muttered back a quick ' _yeah_ '.

"What do you mean by that, Replica?"

He hummed lowly, and Kitora glanced to him curiously. "I analyzed the amount of Trion invested into the Rabbit while you all were watching the Illgars attack HQ," He paused. "To say the least, the amount of Trion is _immense_. And with the amount of Trion soldiers scattered across the map at the moment… why are they sinking so much effort into this one attack?"

 ** _"Why wouldn't they?"_** Satori asked and Kitora twitched _just slightly_ as if she was used to slapping him at this point in time.

"Because an attack like this leaves their country's defences quite… low. With all this risk, they're still scattering their forces so easily. New models or not, this is far too risky and dangerous for them. And still, their intentions are unclear."

"We know what they're after," Kitora interrupted semi-politely. "They're using the scattered Trion soldiers to lure the agents in, before allowing the new models to capture them."

"Yes, but Border has the ' _Bail out_ ' function," Replica cut in, and I paused slightly to think. "And as speculated earlier by Mori… Our enemies are the same as the ones that sent the Rads in to get an estimate of our forces. _So why would they overlook something so simple_?"

 ** _"…Because they're dumb?"_** Satori offered.

Kitora's hand twitched towards her gun, much more violently this time, and for a brief moment, I worried for Satori's wellbeing in the future.

Replica continued, unperturbed( _probably too used to Yuma and I's antics. I kind of feel bad…_ )"…Behind all of their actions, I fear the true motive to be something much more sinister."

 _"Oh right, didn't you mention earlier that they don't want to corner us so quickly?"_ I recalled, speaking into the communicator for the two A-rank agents to hear. "Because… driving the enemy into a corner is said to have lead to the creation of more **black Triggers** …?"

Kitora paled slightly at those words, and I heard a clatter over the radio that sounded suspiciously like somebody tripping, as well as a yelp.

"Tables can turn very quickly during wars like this, especially with black Triggers thrown into the mix. Backing us into a corner now would be much more dangerous, due to the fact that they have no backup ready to assist their side."

"— _Wait_." Kitora cut in, hand against the side of her head. "…I apologize for interrupting, but Trion soldiers have broken through and out of the emergence area, in the south-west."

"Ah, _shit_!" I yelled, pushing more force into my steps. "That's where Chika is, _step on it!_ "

Satori yelled an affirmative over the radio, yet Kitora scoffed. _"Don't order me around!"_

-0-

" _A TRION SOLDIER!_ " A C-rank screamed, backing away in a panic.

" _RUN!_ " Somebody else yelled their voice lost in the sudden chaos that enveloped the air around them.

The Rabbit stepped through the cloud of dust threateningly, the core within its jaws glowing eerily as it charged up for a shot.

However, it was interrupted when Kitora stomped on its head ruthlessly with a Scorpion formulated boot.

I jumped over its head not too far behind her, Meteora circling around me as I glared at the Rabbit.

" _I-It's Kitora from Arashiyama squad! And th—the four-eyes girl!_ "

I gave a quick, clipped wave over to Chika, who smiled gratefully from beside Natsume.

"This one's a different colour form the one you and Kuga dealt with," Kitora observed calmly.

"The design's different too," I mumbled, loud enough for her to hear. "The other one couldn't fire any beams from its mouth."

A Marmod broke through the nearby building and I twitched, about to run towards it.

 ** _"—Got it."_**

I paused suddenly when two sniper shots fired out. The Neighbours core shattered against the force of the shot, while one of the claws aimed towards the nearby C-ranks was simultaneously shot off.

 ** _"Hey, did you two see—"_**

I stared in awe at the sight, before turning back to the Rabbit while speaking into my communicator. "Satori- _senpai_ , **_that was awesome!_** "

 ** _"—my double-sni—wait, really?!"_**

"Yeah, that was so cool!" My mood successfully brought up, I aimed the Meteora at the Rabbit with a slightly shaky grin. "I've gotta see that up close some time, I didn't get to get a really good look just now, but it was still _cool_!"

 ** _"KITORA, DID YOU HEA—?!"_**

"Yes, _yes_!" She grumbled through the communicator. "However, we're in the middle of an invasion! Protect the C-rank trainees, I will—" She cut herself off, sparing a glance over to me. "… _Mikumo_ and I will take down the new model!"

She shut off her communicator and glanced to me. "Mikumo… Make sure the C-ranks are not targeted, don't blow up any houses. We're no longer in the emergence area, you can't go destroying the street like before."

" _I'll_ _try_ ," I mumbled embarrassedly, lifting my hand as a large cube appeared. "Anything else you want me to not do in particular?"

"Don't blow up the houses," She ordered, and used her gun to shoot out a few… strings? "And don't get within its range, do you have any other Triggers besides the Meteora?"

"…No," I shook my head with a low grumble, and she narrowed her eyes at our opponent.

"Then strictly stick to cover fire," She glanced at me for a brief moment before kicking off of the pavement. " _Don't get in my way. There may not be any room for you to assist_."

-0-

 _Boy,_ ** _did she not need any help._**

" _She's so quick!_ " I distantly heard a C-rank yell, all of them staring in awe at Kitora, who was jumping around nearly as fast as Midorikawa as she leapt from string to string, the Trion-formulated wires forming a makeshift cage around the Rabbit.

"Don't just stand there, **keep evacuating!** " I yelled at them in a hurry, not taking my eyes off of the Rabbit even for even a moment. " _Replica, how's everything going?_ "

"… _The C-ranks are slow to evacuate_ ," He admitted and I let out a low growl in frustration. "Satori is helping them along from where he is, but there's not much we can do, since trainees have no operators to help guide and escort them collectively… Arashiyama squad's operator is doing what she can, but there's not much she can accomplish while _also keeping an eye on her own squad_."

"… _Where's Shiori-chan?_ " I asked. "Maybe we can get her to work for helping with that…"

"She is not yet available," Replica hummed somewhat impatiently. "Some of the off-duty agents are still collecting themselves. However, Shiori will be ready in a few minutes."

I scowled but hurriedly wiped away the upsetting expression as quickly as I could manage. "Alright, call her as soon as she's set up."

I was cut off as the Rabbit abruptly launched itself in the air, some type of heat discharging from its backside to propel itself into the air.

It pried its mouth open, and the ground shook as it shot a beam around the radius of its position, the houses in the distance exploding and releasing smoke and fire.

" _Why you—!_ " Kitora's voice echoed in the distance, and I tapped my communicator twice.

 ** _"Is it high enough to hit?!"_** I yelled, causing her to freeze where she was. She had been about to launch herself into the air but instead turned around to face me with a bewildered expression. **_"Can I hit it from here, without damaging the houses?!"_**

Her eyes twinkled in realization, and she hesitated slightly before nodding. **_"Yes!"_**

 ** _"Alright,"_** I aimed both of my arms into the air and towards the Rabbit. **_"You'll get the finishing blow!"_**

 ** _"Hurry up and bring it down!"_** She ordered, and I shot off the Meteora bullets directly afterwards.

The first hit the Rabbit in the face, stunning it slightly. It turned to me without hesitation, but the follow-up shot blew up straight in the face, unfortunately missing the core. The third was adjusted to be slightly slower, but with more firepower, and exploded in its stomach area.

" _One more_ —!" I fired two more bullets with high speed and range to circle around its back, and I could clearly see the two shots explode against the back turbines. It sputtered in the air for a moment, before the force of gravity brought it down _heavily_ a second later.

" _Coming down!_ " I yelled, watching Kitora ready a Scorpion with a slight smirk.

" ** _I can see that!_** "

She leapt into the air, and jabbed the blade straight into the Rabbit's mouth, shattering the core instantly.

-0-

"Kitora-san!" I called over to her and she landed on the ground, meters in front of me. " _That was_ —!"

I hesitated as she looked up, purple eyes cutting through the tension as she stared at me with an undecipherable emotion swirling around in her eyes.

There was loud cheering from the nearby C-rankers, but I ignored them as I tried to think of what to say to the person that seemed to only find hate and scorn when looking at me.

I lifted a hand slowly, waving it back and forth hesitantly, trying to pull my lips into what I wished could be considered a grin.

"… _That was actually kind of cool_."

She paused in slight shock, the Scorpion blade in her hand shifting.

"… _I suppose you didn't do too bad either._ "

She nodded decisively before turning her head off to the side slightly. " _But there's no time to celebrate_ , we have to begin the evacuations that Satori couldn't finish—"

There was another black crackle of Trion filled electricity from behind Kitora, and my mouth fell open in horror as three large portals opened up.

 **" _KITORA-SAN!_ "**

She turned around in shock as three large, differently coloured Rabbits fell from the gates, shattering pavement under their feet as they landed.

The first Rabbit lifted its head up, looking down on us as if we were just bugs that needed to be crushed underfoot.

Natsume shrieked from behind us, evidently not having left quite yet. "There's _three_ of them!"

"If there's so many focused here...!" Kitora yelled. **_"They're after the C-rank trainees!"_**

My eyes flickered instantly as I noticed the black one's arm bubbling, and reaching into and under the broken road pieces where they had landed.

"Kitora-san, _move!_ "

She thankfully listened, jumping back just as some sort of black spike solidified where she just was, stabbing into nothing but air.

"Each one has different abilities?!" She yelled, loudly enough so everyone could hear her observations. "Mikumo, Satori! Protect the C-rank trainees!"

 ** _"I'm ready to fire!"_** Satori hurriedly muttered into the radio.

" _Replica's alerting HQ as we speak!_ " I yelled, readying more bullets. "We may not get reinforcements though, so we should just try to take them out right now!"

The Rabbit in the very front jumped over both Kitora and I, heading straight for Natsume and Chika.

"Oh, _no you don't!_ " Kitora used her wire gun to pull herself over to them, pulling both girls out of the way a millisecond before the Rabbit crashed into the ground.

"All of the C-ranks are in danger!" I yelled into the crowd of trainees around the street, all of them having been watching the battle between Kitora and the first Rabbit. "Gather into one spot and start retreating towards HQ!"

I prayed that most of them would listen as I began to tune them out, focusing only on the Rabbits and Kitora.

' _Kitora's arm was just hit by that blast, we can't protect the C-ranks while also killing the Neighbours. We don't know how long it'll take to get help from HQ, so Satori, Kitora and I might as well be on our own in terms of offence. The Rabbit that just launched itself at Chika and Natsume seems to be the same colours as the one Kitora and I just killed, and I think I can see the shape of the Turbines on it's back. The black and purple one that attacked once it got out of the gate has some sort of long range abilities, and seems to be able to use sneak attacks from under the grou—!_ '

I hurriedly jumped sideways to avoid another wave of black spikes.

"Kitora-san, are you ok?!" I yelled in a rush, sending an explosion at the black Rabbit that it seemed to shrug off with ease.

I saw her stand straighter from where she had been ushering Natsume away, Scorpion already forming in her hand as she faced the Trion soldiers. "Don't underestimate me! _The three of us will take on these Neighbours without an issue!_ "

I focused on the sudden gunshot that struck dead centre of the light blue Rabbit's face. **_"You heard the woman,"_** Satori's voice rang out as the Rabbit shook off the impact and stared eerily into the distance where I assume Satori shot from. **_"All of the C-ranks are gonna be fine, guaranteed!"_**

I nodded, with more certainty this time. "A-Alright. The C-ranks are running, but most of them are trying to stick together—" I was cut off as the dark yellow Rabbit charged all of a sudden, passing right by me. I glanced around in confusion for a moment, before noticing a very small form standing, frozen yet still shaking as she stared at me hopelessly.

" ** _CHIKA—!_** "

She snapped out of it at the last moment, and managed to kick off to the side as the Rabbit's side grazed her.

The Rabbit crashed into the house, dust being kicked up from the wreckage as Chika froze once again, head turned back to stare at the slowly rising Rabbit.

" _CHIKA!_ ** _RUN!_** "

She couldn't hear me, eyes wide and terrified as my cries went ignored in her fear.

I prepared to make a dash over to her, but I was forced to abort the action as the purple Rabbit created spikes underneath my feet. I dodged the attack clumsily, being barely missed as I stared at Chika in horror.

" _HEY_ , BIG, YELLOW AND UGLY!"

My tunnel vision disappeared in an instant though, as a thick bullet landed itself in the Rabbit's snout.

The Rabbit leaned back from the impact, recovering itself quickly as it swung its head towards the source.

Natsume sat crouched in the middle of the road, Ibis raised bravely as she aimed at the Rabbit now approaching her.

" _GET_ _AWAY FROM_ ** _CHIKAKO_**!"

She lifted the rifle once more, making a decent shot that would have landed itself in the core of the Rabbit. But instead, the Trion soldier raised its armoured arm and deflected the shot effortlessly.

 ** _"Satori!"_** I heard Kitora raise her voice into the communicator. **_"Help the C-rank agent!"_**

Natsume dropped the Ibis as the Rabbit scooped her up, chest cavity opening threateningly as it pulled her towards itself.

"WHOA, _bad touch, bad touch!_ "

 ** _"I can't get a good shot from here that won't hurt her!"_** He yelled back in a rush. **_"Without a Bail out, I'd just be putting her in more danger!"_**

Natsume let the cat down from her shoulder, turning to Chika worriedly. "Chikako, _run!_ "

I fired a weak Meteora in their direction, but the explosion was practically non-existent as the purple Rabbit attacked me mid-shot. The spikes cut a thin line on the edge of my foot, and I hissed in frustration.

" ** _CHIKA!_** "

Her head snapped over to my direction, and although I didn't dare turn my back on the Rabbit in front of me, I somehow knew exactly what expression she was making.

" ** _YOU'VE—_** " I cut myself off as the Rabbit launched itself at me again. " ** _—YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT FOR MONTHS NOW!_** "

I heard a small gasp from her direction, and I pressed forward.

" ** _YOU'VE BEEN TRAINING FOR MONTHS, SO THAT WHEN THE TIME CAME, YOU COULD FIGHT FOR IT—!_** "

I was smacked down the street at the exact moment that my last shout made it through the chaotic, yet near-silent battlefield.

" ** _—SO PICK UP A WEAPON AND FIGHT! I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO FIGHT, TOO!_** "

I could barely see her short form nodding determinedly and dashing towards Natsume's gun, just as I got up from the rubble I had been buried in. The purple Rabbit ran towards me once more, and although it did nothing in my Trion body, cracked my neck threateningly.

" _Alright_ ," I hissed, hearing the loud sonic boom in the background as Chika fought for her life. " **It's crunch time**."

-0-

"AND _STAY_ ** _DOWN_** _!_ "

I blew up the last explosion from underneath the Rabbit's stomach, launching it up into the air on an angle from where it had been hunched over. The Rabbit flew across the road, and the deadweight corpse smashed its way through the half-dead Rabbit Chika had brought down herself.

 ** _"Whoa, are you ok, Mikumo-chan?"_**

"'- _chan_ '…?" I repeated dully, before shaking my head to myself scoldingly. "—Wait, _yeah_. I'm fine, just aggravated. Thanks for helping me out with that one, I _don't_ think I could've done it alone."

"Well, the other new model's almost done for too…. _as expected of Kitora_ , she gets the work done quickly, even without any cover fire!"

I jogged over to the two C-rankers slowly, tapping my communicator impatiently. _"Commander? Replica? Am I connected?"_

"You are," Mini-Replica responded, floating up from… **_wherever_** they had been hiding.

I nodded approvingly, giving him a thankful expression with a thumbs up.

 _"Director Shinoda, Kitora, Satori and I are currently fighting with a few Rabbits over here! They're definitely after the C-rank agents, and more Neighbours might be sent our way!"_

 ** _"We see what's going on, Replica-san sent us a report like you and Kitora requested."_** He called back through the earpiece, and I breathed a sigh of relief. **_"New models are popping up in the south and east as well, hold on a little while longer. Border's strongest squad is on the way!"_**

I blinked, finally reaching Chika and Natsume. "Border's… _strongest squad?_ "

"They'll be here soon," Replica replied while Kitora stepped out from around the corner, evidently having taken down her own Rabbit with Satori's help. "Kitora—"

"I just heard," She summarized. "We'll be receiving some powerful reinforcements very soon, but for now… _Be on guard_. New models could appear at any moment, especially with the irregular gates lurking around. _Satori_?"

 ** _"I'm on the case!"_** He replied quickly. **_"As for any of the smaller Neighbours… I don't see any at the moment, but I'll try to keep an eye out."_**

"No shame if you _can't_ catch one," Kitora reluctantly reassured. "They're small, and you're trying to keep an eye on the whole battlefield around us. If one slips through because it was hiding, _it's only a matter of life-or-death_."

 ** _"Kitora!"_** Satori shrieked through the earpiece. **_"Don't joke around like that, I'm doing my best—! Oh, a Marmod."_**

I heard a distant crash, a few screams from civilians that were just evacuating, a gunshot, a Neighbour-like hiss and-or scream, and a loud thud as if something large was hitting the ground.

 ** _"—Ok, got it! I'm watching the perimeter, just like you asked!"_**

I paused, face paling just slightly that brought a bit of humour to the situation. "… _Snipers are scary_."

 ** _"What?"_**

"Nothing, _Nothing_ ," I shot a weak glare at Chika for laughing slightly under her breath, but inwardly felt relief when a bit of colour returned to her and Natsume's faces. "…Just mumbling to myself."

'… _They're not ready to be on the battlefield like this_.'

I glanced down at my shaking hands, before trying to hide them by crossing my arms over my chest nonchalantly.

' _Then again, doesn't seem like_ ** _I_** _am, either._ '

"Ehh… _It's over already?!_ "

I jolted, a Meteora cube forming in front of my face as I panicked minutely. Kitora shot me a scolding and disbelieving glance as I hurriedly made the bullet go away with a slight blush. The small chuckle I heard over the radio from Satori made my face burn with an even larger blush.

The truck came to a sudden halt, the tires screeching against the pavement as Konami jumped off and in front of the vehicle.

Her hair was cut shorter in her Trion body, which nearly made me do a double take, and from the combat-oriented green clothing to the displeased scowl on her face and back to the Trigger holster blades sheathed on either side of her hip…

" _Konami,_ ** _you look badass_**." I blurted out suddenly, before my face returned to the furious red it had been not even a few moments ago.

" _Oh_?" She smirked at her two teammates victoriously. "See?! _Someone_ can recognize awesomeness around here— **Wait** _, where's Yuma_?" She glanced around confusedly, short strawberry blonde hair swishing side to side as Karasuma stood behind her, blank-faced as always.

" ** _He must have died already_** ," He commented without a shred of hesitation. Konami froze, eyes wide in horror as she turned to him robotically. " _Too bad, he never even got to see all three of us in action… it seems we'll have to have a grand battle Royale between Tamakoma members to see who'll_ ** _gain ownership of his will_** —"

Konami's face had been paling rapidly in horror, but before she could make the motion to turn to me questioningly, Kizaki stop tall behind the two of them and chopped Karasuma in the head.

His face was startlingly blank as he stared at the two of his teammates in disappointment.

"…Konami, _Kuga isn't dead_ ," He muttered, and Konami jolted before whirling around to face Karasuma in a fit of fury. "And Kyousuke, _don't mess with Konami during an invasion_." He paused, deeming that enough of a scolding, before turning to Chika with a slightly worried expression. "Amatori, are you alright?"

" _Karasuma could fool Konami-senpai so easily…!_ " Kitora murmured, heard by only Chika, Natsume and I. "As expected of Karasuma, after all, _Konami-senpai is the No.3 Attacker!_ "

"Ah, Mori," Karasuma waved to me, eyes scanning the nearly unnoticeable, tiny cloud of Trion that rose from the cut on my foot. "…Seems we're going to have to up the training then, _hm?_ "

 ** _"Konami-senpai!"_** Satori's voice chattered over the radio, somehow being heard by all of Tamakoma-1. **_"Kitora and I took care of all of your kohai, did you see?!"_**

 ** _"Eh heh heh heh…"_** Shiori's voice snickered over the connection, loud and clear for all of us to hear. **_"I've finally arrived! I worked together with Ayatsuji-chan to get the communicators connected! And now, with Miku-chan and I, all of the glasses can combine to fight off the invasion!"_**

Natsume stood frightfully still, before pulling Chika and herself closer to me with a slightly terrified expression. "… _Is it always like this_."

" _Oy vey_ …" I pinched the bridge of my nose tiredly, nodding along with whatever everyone else was saying without listening. "It's actually sometimes worse, _with Yuma and Jin-san lounging around_ …"

"Anyways, _let's get a move on!_ " Kitora spoke up. "The C-ranks still need to be evacuated to a safe location, now that it's _clear_ that they're one of the targets!"

"Right," Konami nodded with a confident smile. "This kind of lineup can take any new models coming our way, no problem!"

 ** _"—Wait a second!"_** Satori's voice suddenly shrieked over the radio, and all of us were on guard in an instant. **_"I see a portal opening up near you g—!"_**

A Rad hiding on the inside of a nearby house suddenly clattered with noise, the gate mechanism working its magic as Trion crackled ominously.

The dark gate opened momentarily for two cloaked figures to glide out, heels touching the ground with a soft, subdued ' _clack_ '.

"…Oh dear," The older man sighed wearily. "I'm not sure I feel quite right about abducting children."

" _It's our duty_." The brunettes dull blue eyes sharpened on Chika, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. "Viza-sama."

" _Horns_ …!" I muttered, one foot stepping back against my will, with the smallest hint of fear leaking into my mind.

 ** _"Do we have a plan?"_** Karasuma's calm voice filtered in through the communicator, and I struggled to not move my head towards him.

 ** _"Uh… I guess… Protect the C-ranks…?"_** I trailed off unsurely.

Konami huffed, a slight smirk drawing on her lips. **_"Good a plan as any. Kick their asses, get the trainees to HQ."_**

I could see the two humanoid Neighbours talking over where they were, but I tried to focus on the conversation more while also keep my eyes on them.

 ** _"The C-ranks will get distracted by the battle, no doubt,"_** Kitora scoffed. **_"It seems that action is all that's on their minds at times…"_**

 ** _"Some of us will have to hold off the Neighbours, while the rest of us escort the C-ranks."_** Kizaki added. **_"Konami, Kitora, Satori and I will hold off the Neighbours. Kyousuke and Mikumo will protect the trainees. They're the top priority."_**

He paused and sent me a quick glance.

 ** _"Mikumo, protect Amatori with your life."_**

 ** _"Yes sir,"_** I nodded just as the Neighbour activated their Trigger, what looked like metal swirling around and flicking around in the air around them.

"Although now we know who the adversary is," Replica spoke up as we all faced our enemies. "Without a doubt… We are facing off against the planetary nation of **_Aftokrator_**."

 ** _"Horn-enhanced Trion or something or other, right?"_** Konami asked. **_"Higher-ups already told us."_**

"Indeed," Replica agreed. "Do not underestimate them."

We were cut off as some of the metal pieces shot towards us like bullets. Karasuma protected us with a quick shield and a low mutter of 'Escudo'.

Kizaki leaned around the side of the shield as a large machine gun formed in his hand as it instantly began firing off loud and heavy bullets.

"Alright, let's get going," Karasuma gestured to me, and a bead of sweat went down my temple as the loud gunfire in the background increased every second. "We've got to go defend the C-ranks, more Trion soldiers could show up to attack them any second now."

Chika and Natsume nodded beside me, and the four of us hurriedly left the battlefield.

-0-

"The shield is quite tough," Kitora observed calmly, shooting off multiple Asteroid as Karasuma's shield dropped slowly. "Should I stop firing?"

"There's a possibility he's just trying to lure us into close combat," Kizaki pointed out as the gunfire increased once more. "We don't know how they work quite yet or the exact functions of their Triggers, our best option is a sniper shot from around the back."

He paused. "Satori, can you circle around behind them?"

 ** _"Sure can!"_** Satori chimed in from the communicator. **_"Should I leave the trainees up to Karasuma and Mikumo-chan?"_**

 ** _"Go ahead!"_** Shiori cheerily stated. **_"I've already told them that you're not covering for them anymore, and you can turn around at any moment if something goes wrong!"_**

 ** _"Alright, it'll take me a few minutes, if I want to stay out of their range,"_** Satori warned, a tinge of regret in his tone.

"Hey, what do _I_ do?" Konami whined, lifting both Sogetsu from the holsters at her hips.

"…Attack whenever you want," Kizaki ordered clearly, much to the disbelief of Kitora and Satori. " _Just don't get hit_."

 ** _"I'll help with that!"_** Shiori offered excitedly. ** _"I can outline the trajectories no-problem!"_**

"Great!" Konami smirked, connecting the two blades and twirling it around expertly as they morphed slowly into a monstrous battle axe. "Let's start already!"

-0-

I could distantly hear the gunfire, which had not stopped growing louder and louder, suddenly drop in sound.

"What happened?" I turned my head back worriedly, but Karasuma only flicked my temple from where he was jogging along with us.

" _Don't get distracted_ ," He scolded blandly. "Konami's probably joining the fight, they can't just fire without consequence when adding an attacker to the mix."

"Why didn't _you_ stay behind then?" Chika asked curiously, while Natsume jogged over to join the rest of the C-ranks, satisfied that Chika was safe. "Wouldn't it have been better, since you're also a gunner…?"

" _That's true_ , I would've been useful for fighting them off," Karasuma agreed. "But we can't allow any other Neighbours to get close to the trainees either. If an attacker were to engage with any enemies on _this end_ …"

"They'd either have to battle close to the trainees, which could prove to be dangerous for them," Replica picked up seamlessly. "Or fight them further away from the C-ranks, which could endanger them even more. Having a gunner on either side would be for the best at the moment, but Mori isn't—" He cut himself off hurriedly, but I got the message.

"— _A good enough fighter, yeah,_ ** _I know_**." I muttered. "You guys _don't trust me_ to protect the C-ranks all on my own, and-or to not screw up the dynamic by helping them fight the Neighbours _over there_."

Replica paused, somewhat surprised by the slight bitterness in my tone. "… _While that may be true_ , you shouldn't beat yourself up about it."

"I'm _literally_ **_too weak_** to help out anywhere, it's hard _not_ to," I grumbled, not heard by either Chika or Karasuma. I clenched my hands crossed over my chest, still making futile attempts to stop shaking. "Helping take out the Rabbits _or not_ , sometimes it seems like I haven't changed **_at all_** _._ "

Replica paused, a mechanic hum slipping from… wherever his voice comes out from. "I think things _have_ changed. After all, nobody's had to protect you. You haven't gotten yourself into a situation where you needed to be saved, unlike before."

" _That_ ** _really_** _doesn't—_ " I groaned, slapping my arms harshly in frustration. "Never mind, let's just—"

There was a distant flash of light from the east side, and Shiori's surprised gasp filtered in through the communicator.

 ** _"KAZAMA JUST HAD TO BAIL OUT!?"_**

-0-

Konami's battle axe scraped loudly against Viza's cane, just as Shiori's startled shout filtered in through the radio.

Kitora jolted, only hand instantly raising to touch the device. "Usami-san?! _What happened?!_ "

 ** _"I don't know!"_** The frustrated voice came through, along with the tell-tale tapping of a computers keys. **_"Kazama and Kaho-chan are just writing the report, I'm skimming it right now… There was a black Trigger!"_**

 **" _Seriously?!_ "** Konami scowled, voice sounding out although her mouth never moved. ** _"By the way, I'm not too sure about this old guy in front of me, he's giving me a bad feeling…"_**

 ** _"I'm in position,"_** Satori said suddenly. **_"The old guy is still kind of in the way and might interfere with the shot, but I can fire at the other one whenever!"_**

"Fire as soon _as you get a better shot_ ," Kizaki ordered, lifting his gun. "We can keep them over here, and you're far enough out of their range that you don't need to run after you shoot."

"It'll _still_ be disadvantageous once they know your position though," Kitora warned. " _Don't mess up the first shot_."

 ** _"Jeez, so much pressure!"_**

-0-

" _The baby birds are getting away_." Hyuse muttered to Viza, just as the elderly man stepped away slightly. "We can't afford to be delayed."

"Perhaps we can have Hairein call somebody over," Viza suggested nonchalantly. "He himself is not busy, and I'm sure Mira can transport Ranbanein over if need be… Though there is also—"

Hyuse lifted his gauntlet covered hand with a slight frown, unintentionally cutting off Viza. " _I'm sure_ we can complete our task without **their** help. _We don't need_ —"

They were cut off suddenly as a bullet silently soared through the air, triggering their war-honed sixth senses. Viza stepped back leisurely, while Hyuse leapt hurriedly to the side.

He didn't come out of it without consequence though, as the sniper shot blasted off his hand with an explosion of black Trion smoke.

-0-

 ** _"Indirect hit!"_** Satori groused. **_"Should I fire again?"  
_**

"Don't bother." Kizaki stated, watching cautiously as Hyuse's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Try to get to another building for the next shot, they'll definitely be on more guard for the sniper."

Kitora lifted her gun, shooting multiple times at Viza to distract him. The old man lifted his cane and expertly deflected all of the bullets, idly watching Konami dash past him and swing her axe towards Hyuse.

Hyuse scowled and conjured a shield to block the attack, but flinched with wide eyes as Konami's Sogetsu cut through the metal like butter.

He backed up, lifting his arm once again as the metal pieces around him swirled to life.

" _Don't get in my way_." He growled, sending a large clump of metal towards Konami, who watched in mild fascination as the metal morphed and twisted into a giant shuriken. She dodged easily, smirking openly as she saw the blurred outline of her quick teammate, right behind the distracted Hyuse.

" ** _Then don't underestimate us_**." She muttered, watching as Kizaki punched through the metal shields swirling around Hyuse, effortlessly launching him down the street with a single hit.

Kizaki glanced down at his hand, metal shards embedded into the Trion body's skin painlessly. Konami landed in a crouch right next to him as the two of them faced the Neighbours, while Kitora stepped up beside them with her gun still aimed at Viza.

"I just figured it out." He murmured to the two of them, as well as Satori, who was still listening from the communicator. " _It's magnets_. That's how the metal pieces are floating around like that… and how it negated the force of my attack."

"Ah damn," Konami scowled, watching Hyuse get back up easily, only a crack down the side of his face present to show the effects of Kizaki's attack. "How're we going to deal with them? The quicker we do, the faster we can go back to escorting the C-ranks."

"The trainees and the city are our **_first priority_**." Kitora reminded. "And they still need more protection, Karasuma is the _only_ A-rank helping them right now…!"

"We are getting _quite_ tired of this." Viza spoke up, putting a halt to any conversation. "…The baby birds are getting away. And there are simply too many of you, _not to mention the sniper_ …"

"What are you going on about?" Konami frowned, lifting up her two Sogetsu, having split them to conserve Trion. " ** _Get to the point_**."

Viza paused, hand brushing over his cloak slightly. "Well now, _that was quite rude_. Interrupting me like that… maybe listening to what I had to say would have left you better off."

There was a sudden, loud ' ** _BOOM_** ' as the nearby building, situated directly behind both Viza and Hyuse, exploded in a flurry of concrete and debris.

Konami and Kizaki's eyes widened in horror as they watched the Trion soldier's head lift up and above the house's roof.

The large Bamster roared, not even hesitating as it crawled past the Neighbours and Border agents, heading further and further into the city.

" _That_ **_basta_** —!" Konami hissed, lifting up her blades angrily.

"Satori, why didn't you warn us about the Neighbour?!" Kitora yelled into her earpiece, receiving only static in response. Her eyes widened in panic, and she tapped the communicator again desperately. "Satori?! _Respond_!"

 ** _"I'm—ittle busy—! So sudde—eighbours—!"_**

"I apologize for the sudden interruption…" Viza chuckled. "But the sniper shots were just a little… _too unexpected_. A simple swarm of Marmods should keep them busy for now, hm?"

Kizaki stared off into the distance, watching as the Bamster continued to ruin the city was it crawled along the pavement and roaring towards the sky.

"Konami," He began, but she only shook her head in frustration.

" _I know_." She forced out through gritted teeth. "That Neighbour… _is heading in the direction of Torimaru's house_."

" _Karasuma_?!" Kitora exclaimed worriedly. "What do we do?!"

"…We've got no choice." Kizaki began reluctantly. " ** _Konami_** , head out to deal with the Neighbour. Kitora and I will hold them off here."

" ** _What?!_** " Konami spun around to him in shock. " _No way_ , you—!"

" **Konami**." Kizaki cut her off, sending her a stern expression. "… _Protect the city_. Kitora and I will hold them off here… Satori will go defend the city along with you."

She jolted, her incredulity morphing into sheer surprise. " _You mean…!_ "

" _When you finish dealing with the Neighbours_ …" He continued, lifting up his Trigger. "…Join up with Kyousuke afterwards. **_Protect Mikumo and Amatori_**."

She nodded, hurriedly leaping off to follow the Bamster trekking along and into the city. " _I won't keep them waiting long._ "

Hyuse and Viza made no movement to stop her.

-0-

"Shiori-chan, is everything ok?!" I repeated, hand held up against my ear as I walked over to join Karasuma and Chika at the front of the crowd.

 ** _"Things are getting very mixed up!"_** She responded. **_"There're some complications over with Reiji, Kitora and Konami, and Satori is dealing with some more Marmods! And Kazama squad has confirmed that the humanoid Neighbour they fought was a black Trigger— I'm trying to get everything in order right now, but I need a second!"_**

"Take all the time you need, Usami," Karasuma said, eyes scanning the crowd of C-rankers behind us. "You're doing _a lot_ , don't stress yourself."

 ** _"I'll try…"_** She trailed off. **_"All of you guys, stay safe."_** The audio shut off with a click, and I lowered my hand once again, worriedly.

"…The mini-Replica I left behind with Kizaki and Konami is currently having difficulties picking up any details regarding the battle." Replica murmured, hovering over our shoulders. "At the moment, I can confirm that a Bamster showed up, as well as a few Marmods to occupy Satori." He hummed contemplatively. "Their next course of action is unclear… But it seems like Konami and Satori have split off to defeat the Trion soldiers."

" _Everything's gone to shit_." I muttered to myself, clenching and unclenching my hand spastically.

"… _For now_ , let's continue protecting the C-ranks." Karasuma ordered, gun shifting around in his grip. "The door to HQ isn't too far away, we need to keep moving forward."

Chika glanced up at the two of us worriedly, but I only pushed the mini-Replica towards her. " _Replica, help me keep Chika safe, okay? Stay beside her_."

"Roger." He intoned without hesitation. "The door to HQ is just up ahead."

Karasuma, Chika, Replica, the trainees and I were right there. We could see the door from here, it was startlingly close.

"— ** _Reiji and Kitora have bailed out!_** "

 _We were so close._

A black blob descended on the entrance like an avalanche, the bubbling force crushing the steel door like an ant under a shoe.

 **"ALRIGHT, PUNY SMALL FRY…."**

My blood went cold as a dark figure twisted and bubbled into existence above the wreckage of steel and concrete.

 **"COME OUT…COME OUT…WHEREVER YOU ARE! _I'LL CRUSH YOU ALL!_ "**

There was a harsh, jarring ' _CLANG_ ' from behind us, and everyone's heads swung around.

"Well now, it seems that _Enedora_ … has come as back-up _, hm_?"

Behind us, two figures touched the ground gently, metallic, wing-like attachments on their backs.

 _The two Neighbours from before_.

 ** _The two Neighbours that were_ supposed to _be fighting against Kizaki and Kitora_**.

"Perhaps Hairein felt like we needed some _hurrying along_." The old man chuckled under his breath, lifting his cane ever so slightly.

The other Neighbour scowled. "I suppose with no time to spare… _we can't afford to be picky with our allies_."

" ** _HEY_** , _what're you saying about me over there?!_ " The black-haired Neighbour yelled, back in front of us. " _I can hear you talkin' shit, small fry! I'll be dealing with you,_ ** _right after I kill all of these Meeden monkeys!_** "

 ** _"T-THE ENTRANCE TO HQ HAS BEEN DESTROYED!"_**

( _We were_ ** _so_** _close_.)


	7. Make A Move

"It hasn't been too long since Reiji and Kitora bailed out," Karasuma said through the communicator. "They're more formidable than we thought…"

"The old man definitely had a black Trigger." Replica warned.

"And there're no reinforcements o-on the way, huh?" I cursed myself internally for stuttering. "I think we're _really_ fucked this time."

' _I have to calm down, I have to. I'm still shaking— I need to—_ '

Karasuma tapped the radio once more, taking advantage of the loud argument the Neighbours were having from both sides of us. "…Mikumo, I didn't tell you this before, but…"

I sent him a questioning glance, but his expression remained carefully blank.

"… _Jin is coming over here to back us up_. He told us not to tell you, but I need you to take the C-ranks to the rendezvous point."

'…. _Oh_.'

 **' _He told us not to tell you_.'**

' ** _Really_** _now_.'

"…Nobody can hold them off long enough for that to happen." I mumbled irritatedly, trying to keep my frustration out of my voice.

I must have succeeded because Shioiri continued, completely unaware of the chaos in my mind. **_"Not to mention, that guy that just crushed the entrance…! That's the black Trigger that took down Kazama! With the old guy that got Reiji, that's TWO black Triggers! There's no way out of—!"_**

My eyes flickered suddenly, and I lifted my hand hurriedly to protect Chika.

" _Wha_ —?!"

Some sort of shiny black blur slammed into my arm, the force pushed harshly against my arm, but I held strong.

"—The magnet Trigger…" Mini-Replica floated down by my arm, inspecting the black shard embedded into my arm as Chika shivered in fright behind me.

"It seems we can't afford to ignore the other one…" Karasuma mused. "Good eyes, Mikumo."

I shook off my arm, trying to make the movement look more nonchalant than I felt. "…Thanks."

"Lord Hyuse, please kidnap the baby birds, as planned," The old man spoke up, cane being lifted casually. "I would deal with the combatants myself, but with Enedora so eager… Well, it seems I might be able to afford simply standing by and watching."

The other Neighbour nodded blankly. "Understood."

"You have to move quickly," Karasuma told me, with more urgency this time. "The C-ranks can't defend themselves."

I frowned "I _know_ —!"

Something suddenly flew past in the air, passing right in-between the two neighbours and us. The house that was slammed into exploded from the force, rubble and debris flying through the air for a moment as dust rose in the air.

" _What was that?!_ " I heard one of the C-ranks scream, but my eye only twitched.

The black-haired Neighbour leapt over the crowd casually, cloak flapping behind him in the wind as he landed on the ground right beside the other Neighbours. "…What the hell?"

' ** _Please_** _tell me that wasn't who I thought I saw_.'

"Ow… You _could_ have dialled it down a few notches, Replica-sensei…"

' ** _Curses_**.'

Jin pat his own back consolingly, pouting dramatically as if he could actually feel pain in his Trion body. " _Well_ , I suppose all that matters is that we made it in time…"

" **Jin!** " Chika exclaimed from behind me, voice laced with shock.

He spared a small, carefree wave to her before turning his back, stepping out of the wreckage to face the Neighbours semi-threateningly. "Nice to meet you, people of Aftokrator. I'm Jin Yuichi, the elite agent. I'm afraid…"

I saw a black figure out of the corner of my eye, hovering over the battlefield from right above and to the side of the three Neighbours.

"… ** _I'll_** be taking you on now."

Yuma launched himself downwards and slammed into the older Neighbour, shattering concrete and ruing the road with a blank expression.

" _Whoops_."

Jin grinned slightly, and the black-haired Neighbours eye twitched. "I meant that… **_we'll_** be taking you on now."

" _Yuma_ …!" I breathed out in shock, just as he bounced upwards from the impact.

" **Boost** ," He intoned darkly. " ** _Double_**."

His fist slammed into the road in an instant, all three Neighbours hurriedly jumping back before they could be hit.

-0-

 ** _"I'd say, for the worst future possible… Well, that's why we're heading over there. We gotta go now."_**

"Worst future…? Is Chika going to get kidnapped?!"

 ** _"…Third worst future. But as of now, if we don't get over there A-S-A-P… Chika could be kidnapped, and Mori might be killed. We need to hurry."_**

-0-

"…Oh. _Oops_."

Yuma lifted up his fist, stones clattering to the ground as he began stepping out of the crater around him.

"I wasn't supposed to fight outside of the emergence area," Yuma muttered dully, red eyes gleaming much more darkly than they should've been. " ** _Was I?_** "

"It's no problem," Jin reassured, casual grin seeming just slightly out of place on his face although it never wavered. "This is without a doubt, _definitely_ , an emergency."

"…What an abrupt greeting," Viza thought out loud. "Perhaps none of these Meedens have learned manners during their upbringing…"

"Who gives a shit about ' _upbringing_ '?" Enedora growled irritatedly. "Doesn't matter once I **crush** them."

Hyuse lifted up his gun and aimed at Chika once again, but Yuma only lifted his arm to interfere with the shot's path.

His crimson eyes narrowed. " _Shield_."

The metal bullet ' _clang_ 'ed against the shield uselessly, the marker falling to the ground uselessly as Hyuse grit his teeth.

There was a tense silence as both sides stared each other down, waiting for someone to make a move.

"…Four-eyes, Kyousuke." Jin called out suddenly, surprising nearly everyone in the vicinity.

"Yeah?" Karasuma directed his attention to Jin, who stayed silent for a few more moments.

"…You guys better head to the base soon, _I'm counting on you guys_." His voice was startlingly soft. "Watch out for Trion soldiers."

"…Understood." Karasuma nodded decisively, but Mori only ignored them, patting Chika's arm softly.

"C'mon, you're one of their targets." She urged quietly, and Chika sent her a slightly worried glance that Mori didn't acknowledge.

-0-

"Go after them, Enedora." Hyuse stated clearly, lifting his gun.

" _Hah_?!" Enedora sneered. "Fuck that, these small fry are the real prey here. Those other ones are _slow_ and have no skill, the very definition of cannon-fodder! These guys though, _I can get the thrill of the hunt_ …!"

"…Our orders are to retrieve the baby birds," Hyuse's eyes darkened. "Are you going to disobey _direct orders…?_ "

"Now, now. Don't squabble, our opponents are waiting." Viza scolded lightly, lifting his cane. "…I am also growing **_quite_** _tired of their running around_."

His voice grew dangerous at the end as he trailed off, and a shiver went down both Hyuse and Enedora's spines.

There was another moment of hesitance on Enedora's part, just before he scoffed in irritation. " _Fine_."

He leapt off, and Jin and Yuma surprisingly let him pass.

-0-

Yuma's eyes flickered to Jin. "… _So_ , we have our opponents now?"

Jin nodded with a weary sigh. "…Unless you can finish the old guy off quicker than I can predict, this is… the most we can do. Once you finish, if the invasion hasn't ended yet—"

" _I know._ " Yuma cut him off without hesitation, a seal forming in front of both of his arms. "…I gotta do this as quick as I can. _Boost_ … **_Quadra_**."

He lifted an arm towards Viza with darkened eyes. " ** _Chain_**. Replica, let's get started."

-0-

 ** _"Torimaru, I've gotten into contact with HQ!"_** Shiori's voice echoed out in the communicator once again. **_"The number of squads that can help us are limited, but they're contacting any free agents right now to help us out!"_**

Chika jolted, and Mori's eyes flickered from her to Karasuma in a hurry. "I think trouble's on the way, Karasuma-senpai!"

He frowned, gun shifting in his grasp. "I should've expected that, with two of them being black Triggers… Not to mention outnumbering Kuga and Jin, three-to-one. I'll probably have to hang back to hold him off, but that'd leave the C-ranks easy to pick off…"

Mori's head lowered for a moment, but she snapped herself out of it as quickly as it came. ' _This is no time for that, he's only speaking the truth. I'll think about it later_.'

"What about what remains of Suwa squad?" Karasuma asked Shiori. "They took Suwa to HQ I heard, but what are they doing now?"

Shiori hummed, tapping a few keys from her computer. **_"I think they were sent out the other way to take care of more Trion soldiers not too long ago… Suwa was released from the cube thanks to the researchers at HQ just before that, so the entire squad was together."_**

"Anyone else open at the moment?" Mori questioned with a hint of worry. "I'm not really keeping the main-line to HQ open on my communicator, so I don't really know what's happening across the map at the moment."

 ** _"Izumi, Yosuke, Midorikawa, and the gathered B-ranks defeated one of the humanoid Neighbours not too long ago!"_** Shiori reported dutifully, just as Mori's arm brushed against her side, suddenly reminding her of the shards embedded into the Trion body. **_"Jin just told me that he and Yuma have split up to deal with the other two, with Yuma taking the black Trigger and Jin—"_**

"Hey, _Replica_ ," Mori whispered, letting Karasuma and Shiori strategize over the radio. "Can you analyze this thing?"

"…Why?" The mini-Replica floated downwards, hovering just above the forearm with said shards.

"This is from the magnetic Trigger, right?" She asked rhetorically. "Set it to a seal and send it to Yuma or something, if you can. He needs all of the help he can get… Shiori-chan just said he's fighting a black Trigger. Besides, might as well do something useful."

He hummed, tongue sticking out. "This will be substantially quicker, the Trigger being Neighbour technology. One moment…"

" _THERE YOU ARE, SMALL FRY!_ "

"…Analysis complete." Replica continued, unperturbed, even as Mori swung her head back to glance at the Neighbour worriedly.

" _I'LL CRUSH YOU ALL—!_ "

"Seal has been set to 'Focus'."

"— ** _DAMN CANNON FODDER!_** "

Replica retracted the small tongue from the shards in Mori's arm, just as Chika grabbed her arm and began dragging her away from the black spikes that nearly impaled both her and multiple C-ranks.

"Alright Mikumo, defend the C-ranks." Karasuma lifted his gun and shot at Enedora a few times to grab his attention. "We don't have much of a choice with the limited number of agents, so you'll be on your own for a bit."

" _Roger_!" She yelled back, pushing her legs to run so that Chika could stop dragging her. "I'll do my best!"

-0-

" _Hah_?" Enedora's hand scratched the side of his head boredly as he stared at Karasuma disdainfully. "You think you can take me on all on your own, monkey?!"

"Probably not," Karasuma conceded, lowering his gun only slightly. "…But I can buy enough time for my comrades to get away. I've got my student behind me, you know."

Enedora grit his teeth angrily, tilting his head downwards so that his menacing horns were easier to see. "I don't really get what you're yammering on and on about…" He growled. "… _But I'm getting really sick of—!_ "

He was cut off abruptly as his head was cut off swiftly by a blade, the wielder suddenly becoming visible as they swiftly leapt past the bubbling Trion body.

Karasuma's eyes widened, as the two figures landed on their feet beside him. " _You_ —?"

"Ah, shut it." Kikuchihara slapped the side of his ear with his palm, a scowl twisting at his face. "This guy was **_our_** original opponent anyway, so we'll be the ones taking him down."

"We'll help hold him off until the C-ranks can get away," Utagawa nodded, Scorpion shifting in his grip comfortably. "It may be difficult to coordinate a gunner with our Chameleon Triggers, so, Mikami…?"

 ** _"Synchronizing audio reception! Relaying all information!"_** Mikami declared clearly through the communicators.

 ** _"Ooh, it's been_ sooooo _long since I've done this!"_** Shiori grinned from her end, typing something out onto her computer. **_"It'll be a bit disorienting, Torimaru, but you'll get used to it in no time!"_**

Kikuchihara began tying up his hair into a ponytail, eyes flickering irritatedly back at Karasuma.

"Don't get in the way." Kikuchihara suddenly directed at Karasuma, and Utagawa shot him a quick scolding glare that he completely ignored.

" _I won't,_ " Karasuma responded sincerely. "After all, we need to protect the C-ranks, _right_?"

-0-

 ** _"Stay in one group, keeping running towards HQ!"_** Mori yelled out to the C-ranks.

Most of them, thankfully for both Chika and Mori, obliged. If albeit panicked, but there wasn't much that could be done about that.

 ** _"Kikuchi and Uttei just showed up!"_** Shiori cheered noisily through the radio, the volume making Mori wince in her already internally panicking state. **_"Oh yeah, they're gonna crush the black Trigger with Torimaru!"_**

"That's great, Shiori-chan," Mori watched the C-ranks run towards HQ with spastically flickering eyes. "Any other updates?"

 ** _"Hm…"_** She hummed, momentarily distracted with something else on her screen before responding. **_"Not much, I'll be helping Mikami-chan with coordinating Kikuchi and Uttei with Torimaru so they can fight properly, but other than that… I need you to hold out a little longer, Yosuke, Izumi, and Midorikawa are on their way to your—"_**

A large, black shadow cast itself over the back of the crowd trainees.

 ** _"—Location…!?"_**

I glanced up worriedly eyes following the perimeter of the large circle in the air with dawning horror. I barely registered many of the C-ranks ahead of us coming to a halt to look up at the sky in confusion.

"A _gate_?!" I exclaimed, watching the feet of a Rabbit emerge from the darkness, just before the rest of its body joined it. Another gate opened a bit father than the first, and another opened from there.

"Those aren't _just_ irregular gates!" Chika worriedly reported. "I don't see any Rads around!"

More Rabbits fell down, blocking the road in front of the C-ranks.

' _4—6, 7 Rabbits?!_ '

 ** _"Everyone, turn back!"_** I screamed. **_"We'll take a detour, avoid the Rabbits as best as you can, and STAY CALM!"_**

There were more panicked screams, and all of the trainees hastily scrambled to their feet to pass by me, running away from the Rabbits.

 ** _"Reinforcements are SO close!"_** Shiori yelled. **_"Hold on for a little longer, and don't let them get to the C-ranks!"_**

"If they catch up, _it's all over_ ," I breathed out in horror, beginning to run alongside and behind the trainees, Chika just ahead of me. "I can barely take one out being the _support_ , much less _without_ **_any_** backup myself."

The one closest to us, ( _grey-ish blue, turbines on it's back, high firepower, can't fight not strong enough_ ** _can't fight_ —**) began to speed up, heading straight towards Chika beside me.

"Oh _for fucks sake—!_ " I dug my feet into the ground and faced the rapidly approaching Rabbit, arms drawn up with a quickly forming meteor already in hand.

" _Mori_!" Chika called back to me, her run slowing down slightly as I shot the giant Meteora off at the Rabbit with a scowl.

" ** _Keep going_** , dammit!" I screamed back agitatedly, eyes still scanning the dust cloud frantically. The Rabbit came out not even a second later, arm drawn far to the side to bat me away.

A curse barely slipped itself from my mouth as I saw every second of being thrown across and into a nearby house, but wasn't fast enough to react.

The impact of my back against the wall was painless and disorienting at best in my Trion body, so I managed to bring my legs up and drag myself to my feet rather quickly.

 ** _"Miku, are you okay?!"_** Shiori yelled worriedly.

I rubbed some dust off of my cheek distractedly, watching the grey-blue Rabbit begin to approach me while the other six continued chasing after the C-ranks. "I'm fine, _I'm fine!_ " I coughed, firing another high-Trion Meteora at the Rabbit that thankfully, wasn't as ineffective as I thought it'd be. As it emerged from the dust cloud standing tall, I grit my teeth( _Angrily? Hopelessly? Proud that I managed to get a hit in at all?_ ) as my eyes were automatically drawn to the thin singed crack along its arm.

 ** _"You can't beat it, Miku!"_** Shiori yelled at me. **_"Run and defend the C-ranks!"_**

" _I'm_ —!" I ran to the side to dodge the arm the Rabbit swung at me, trying to make my way back to the C-ranks. "— ** _Trying_** _to!_ "

I glanced back, a small crater with the Rabbit looming menacingly over the spot where I had just been. My eyes flickered downwards, catching the slight gleam of a few motionless Meteora cubes set up right underneath the Trion soldier. I sent a few more small( _Maximize speed and range, not firepower—_ )bullets to pierce the bombs and in an instant, the cubes exploded outwards, launching the Rabbit over the set of houses and making the crater a bit deeper.

 ** _"—It's not dead yet!"_** Shiori warned.

" _I know_ , I don't need it to be," I responded, shaking my hand off as I ran back towards the C-ranks, not too far behind the Rabbits that were chasing said trainees. "I just needed it _out of the way—_!"

My words were caught in my throat as a light glow lit up the sky above the Trion soldiers, and my eyes adjusted quickly as dozens of small bullets peppered the area around the Rabbits, distracting them from their prey.

Three figures dropped down, two of them swinging their weapons out to the nearest Rabbit, scoring thin, shallow cuts into its thick arms.

"Whoa, it's the new models!" Yoneya marvelled, holding his spear out defensively as his feet touched down on the ground.

"That was _tough_ ," Midorikawa commented, a second Scorpion forming loosely in his other hand. "What the _heck_ are they made of?"

"Ah, there's still a bunch of them," The last person commented nonchalantly. "I thought they said Kyousuke was escorting the C-ranks…?"

( _Wait a second, shit, is that the_ ** _shooter_** _from the_ ** _No. 1 squad_** _—_ )

There was another buzz of static, and to my surprise, I heard another voice speaking through the communicator. ** _"—I think he got held up, Shiori-chan said there's was a black Trigger chasing them…?"_**

' _An unfamiliar voice?_ ' I thought quizzically.

 ** _"Right, thanks for the back-up, Kunichika-chan!"_** Shiori cheered. **_"Alright, I've connected you guys' communicators to Chika and Miku-chan's, we're good to go!"_**

"' _Miku-chan_ '….?" Midorikawa repeated dubiously as a Rabbit snuck up behind him.

I fired another large, Trion pumped Meteora right into the Trion soldiers stomach, the explosion relatively controlled as it grazed the edges of Midorikawa's hair without doing any damage to the teen himself.

He sweatdropped slightly, and all three of them slowly turned their heads over to my direction.

I waved slightly, focusing all of my willpower into not letting them see the tremors that shook my hand pathetically. "…Yo."

Midorikawa jolted, staring at me… nervously? "Mikumo-senpai!"

"Wha—?" I choked. "'Senpai'?! What the hell did Yuma tell you during the rank battle?"

Midorikawa fidgeted nervously, before his hand came up to rest at the back of his head. "Uh, I never got around to it, but—"

"Hey, it's _four-eyes-chan_!"

I forced myself to not show any nervousness just as Yoneya grinned cheerily, calming me slightly before what he said registered in my mind.

 ** _"Wait, you're still going to use that damn nickname?"_** I grumbled lowly with a slightly twitching eye. The communicators, unfortunately, passed along the comment, causing the three of them to snort or chuckle in amusement.

"Four-eyes-chan it is!" Izumi decided with a teasing smirk, causing my eye twitch violently. "Alright, how many new models are there?"

The one that I had launched over the house line suddenly crashed through a nearby building, caving in the wall as it broke through instead of jumping over. Its head swayed side to side in an animalistic manner, before it's eye-like-core finally settled on me. The glow from it was slightly unnerving as it hunched over, almost like an angered animal.

"… _7_ ," I commented with false nonchalance in my voice. " _Well_ , I think that one's gonna kill me, so I'm gonna need to split for now."

"You gonna be fine on your own?" Yoneya asked, tone less worried than the question was meant to be itself. Probably just for formalities.

( _Every damn time, people either overestimate me, or underestimate me. No wonder I turned out so fucked up_.)

"Eh, I'll manage, or I'll die," I started running off the side as the Rabbit leapt towards me. " _See you_!"

I didn't wait for an answer as I turned a corner, jumping away from the spot not even an instant later.

Not a moment too soon either, as the Rabbit's large arms crushed the concrete walls like paper and peered around the corner menacingly.

"Ah shit, I think I'm fucked," I shook off my hand back and forth in the air again to try and get rid of my shaking. ( _Futile, once again. Why do I have to be so cowardly_ —) "Shiori-chan, got any advice?"

 ** _"Uh, Chika's near your location,"_** She hummed, tapping away on her keyboard. **_"Aw, it's so hard to focus on two battles at once…!"_**

"You can cut me off if you want," I offered, upwardly cursing as my voice audibly shook. "Karasuma-senpai's the one facing a black Trigger after all."

 ** _"No, I think you and Chika need the most help right now,"_** She hit another key before I heard a near silent rustle of clothing. **_"Alright, I'm sending Chika directions over to you."_**

" _Wait, wh—?!_ " I cut myself off as I dodged a beam of light, the shot blowing up down the street. I landed in a front roll and scrambled to my feet quickly, running away from the Rabbit in a panic. "Why the _hell_ would you do that?! _We think she's one of the targets!_ "

 ** _"She's in less danger with you anyway!"_** Shiori yelled back. **_"With Izumi holding up two, Yosuke, Midorikawa and you each with one, there's still two chasing after the C-ranks! She needs to group up with you!"_**

I screamed in frustration, hiding behind a wall to get a moment to breathe. " ** _AGH_** —! _Fine_!" I lost my cover not even a moment later as the Rabbit fired the beam at the rubble I was hiding behind, wrecking the battlefield even further.

I rolled off to the side to avoid being hit, firing more low-firepower bullets at the Rabbit to get its attention. "Where's she approaching from, Shiori-ch— **screw it** , _the honorific is too much of a hassle to say mid-battle!_ "

 ** _"On your left."_**

The familiar voice had me ducking to the right and backwards of the Rabbit, narrowly missing being hit be one of its armoured arms. This, however, put the Rabbit in a great spot to be shot at.

A bright sniper shot cleared the road, the relatively small and controlled shot scoring a large dent on the arm it had raised in defence.

 ** _"Mori…"_** Chika began through the communicator, lifting up her Ibis with a slightly shaky smile, but eyes clear and determined nevertheless. **_"…I'm ready to fight now."_**

I shot her a quick thumbs up, shaking not visible to her across the street. " _Great_!" I turned back to the Rabbit, which was now turning towards both Chika and I, judging which one of us to pounce at first. "Because I can't take this guy out **_on my own_**!"

The mini-Replica that was beside Chika split into two, the second one flying over to me relatively quickly, as the Rabbit shook some rubble off of its head. "I can provide small boosts, any large or detailed seals are non-accessible for now."

"That's fine," I breathed, watching his mouth open. " _Every bit helps_."

 ** _"Alright, Tamakoma-2 isn't going down without a fight!"_** Shiori yelled encouragingly before pausing. **_"…That's our team name by the way."_**

"Boost," Replica intoned, an orange seal appearing on both my arms as well as Chika's rifle. "Double."

"Make sure not to blow me up, Chika!" I called back, launching myself at the Rabbit. "Replica, Shiori, watch out for blind spots!"

The Rabbit flexed its legs, preparing to jump towards Chika, but I blew up the road in front of it challengingly. it's head swung towards me angrily, and I shot another few bullets at its face. ( _Why are the fucking Rabbits so tough to break—?!_ )

It crouched and launched towards me, lashing out with one arm as soon as it was in range. Although this time, instead of swatting me into a building( _Which I am getting more used to than I'd_ ** _like_** _to admit_ ), it knocked me down and pushed me into the ground, crushing me with its weight as the chest cavity began to peel open.

"Oh, _are you kidding me?!_ " I screamed, before recklessly forming a Meteora cube right above my face. " _Fuck_ ** _off_** already!"

"Launch the cube into its chest," Replica directed through the radio, and I stopped myself from blowing up the literal bomb over my head prematurely. "Chika will detonate the bomb for you."

"— _For fuck's sake_ — **Fine then!** " I launched the motionless cube into the Rabbit's opening chest cavity with a headset, before pressing myself into the ground as far as I possibly could, already being squashed into the ground by the Trion soldier.

No, it wasn't because of the small appendages from the chest cavity reaching out towards me.

I have something _much_ ** _worse_** to worry about.

True to my fears, Chika shot a boosted Ibis shot at the Rabbit's head, the bullet so large and powerful I felt the arms breaking apart and being torn off of the torso, even with my eyes closed. The wind from the blast was so strong it made my hair whip around wildly in the air, from where I was being mushed into the ground. I could hear the sickening _crunch_ as it's body contorted and cracked, pieces of its thick armour flying around in the air behind it.

It was over as soon as it has begun though, and I crawled out from underneath the dead Rabbit's torn apart arms, stepping over what was left of its body to get out of the crater.

Everything calmed down on the street we were on, if only for a moment.

 ** _"Whew, you guys did great!"_**

I grumbled under my breath unintelligibly, lifting my foot up and stepping out of the crater. I hid my shaking hand behind my back subtly, facing Chika with a frown. "…I almost _died_."

She shook her head, Replica bobbing in the air above her shoulder. "I wouldn't hit you."

" _That was a black Trigger-boosted Ibis shot_ ," I argued uselessly, jogging alongside her as we headed towards the other areas of chaos. "I felt it graze my face, _seriously_."

"Sorry," She apologized lightly before I noticed her reach up with her hand to switch off her communicator. I sent her a questioning glance, but she only looked up to me with a humourless expression.

" _Everything's going to be alright, big sister_."

I gave her a shocked glance, my head whipping around so quickly I feared for whiplash.

To my surprise and slight horror her eyes were fixed unwaveringly on my shaking hand, which I had done my best to hide behind my back and keep still.

( _My best just wasn't good enough, I guess._ ** _Figures_** _._ )

"We're going to make it through this." She stated, no hesitation in her voice. " _I have no doubt._ "

Replica bobbed in the air beside her, staying silent for the two of us to have our moment. His presence was still comforting though, and my quivering calmed slightly, if only for a moment.

I shakily exhaled, shaking my hand off to the side.

"…Let's go help out everyone else. The battle isn't over yet."

Her expression dropped, nearly unnoticeable to either of us, and she nodded solemnly as she turned her communicator back on.

Her sniper rifle clattered in her grip as we jogged around house corners, ears listening intently for the nearest battle.

-0-

 _The Rabbits were tough to kill_ , Izumi reluctantly admitted.

He smirked confidently, arms outstretched to aim more Asteroid bullets at the closest Rabbit, the impact causing it to shrink back defensively. The other Rabbit though, found an opening and leapt towards the blonde shooter.

Izumi dodged to the side, leaving a few Meteora behind to blow up in the Rabbits face. The explosion was controlled and didn't do much damage, but the sight of the stunned, shellshocked Rabbit was enough to make him grin.

Yeah, _they were tough to kill_ , but holding them off was rather easy. Two of them was pushing it in terms of difficulty, but shooters had the advantage of distance in a scenario like this.

"Alright, how tough is that armour?" He wondered out-loud, two large Asteroid cubes forming in both hands.

The two bullets swirled around in the air for a moment, before melding into one large cube in the middle.

Izumi smirked, the cube splitting up instantaneously and spreading out in the air around him. " ** _Gimlet_**."

The bullets launched themselves at the non-stunned Rabbit, piercing small bullet-holes into its head and spreading cracks around with the impact.

"Alright, one more—" Izumi muttered, readying a few more bullets just before his communicator quietly hissed with static.

The other Trion soldier shook off its confusion from the explosives earlier and swung it's head around to the shooter angrily, it's mouth opening and closing in an animalistic fashion that sent alarms ringing in Izumi's head.

Regardless, _Izumi would be Izumi._

" _Whoops_ ," He began playfully, mockery clear in his voice. "Are you mad?"

The Rabbit growled in return, legs tensing and preparing to leap at him.

Izumi formed a cube of Viper bullets to counter-attack it, but _before it could launch itself down the street_ —

A focused, bright bullet soared through the air, landing itself solidly into the Rabbit's arm, which it's animalistic instincts had warned it to raise in an attempt to block the shot. However, the shot pierced straight through the thick armour without issue, like a hot knife through butter, and made its final mark into the Rabbit's torso.

Izumi's eyes widened in shock, but the shot only further defied expectations, blowing up in the centre of the Trion soldiers body and tearing its torso messily in half.

"An _Ibis_ shot?!" He exclaimed aiming the Viper he had created at the other Rabbit, not once taking his eyes off of the sight before him. " _Who was that_?"

 ** _"That was Chika-chan!"_** Shiori proudly boasted over the radio, causing Izumi to jolt in shock.

"The _C-rank trainee_ you mentioned?" He murmured in shock. " ** _Seriously_**?!"

 ** _"Ah, Miku-chan was with her too!"_** Shiori hummed, listening to something else over the communications line before redirecting her attention. **_"They're coming down from the house Chika was sniping from to meet you, then you guys can head over to finish off the rest chasing the C-ranks."_**

" _Four-eyes-chan_ from earlier?" Izumi wondered out loud, shooting another Viper at the last Rabbit, the directed shots twisting around in the air before destroying the core easily. "…Huh." He paused in thought, finger resting on his chin. "You said she's a shooter?"

 ** _"Hm? Oh yeah, she is. She's only got the Meteora Trigger right now though, she and Yu—her teammate just transferred from C-rank yesterday."_**

" _Cool_ ," He nodded, stepping over the now-dead Rabbit's corpse, head tilted up in thought. There was a distant voice, and he turned slightly to see two figures making their way down from a roof a few roads over. He returned the wave in a laid-back manner, stepping over in their direction slowly.

-0-

"Izumi-senpai," I greeted with a nod, shoving my nervousness into one of the deep dark corners of my mind.

( _HE'S PART OF THE_ ** _NO. 1 SQUAD_** _. HE'S ONE OF THE MOST SKILLED SHOOTERS IN ALL OF BORDER. SHIT._ ** _SHIT. S H I T_** _. Deep breaths._ ** _KEEP CALM_** _. WHY DOES THIS_ ** _NEED TO HAPPEN NOW—_** )

"Yo," He waved back with a slight grin, before nodding towards Chika beside me who was holding her Ibis in her hands. "Thanks for the backup."

"Huh?" She jolted, before bowing back to him. " _It was no problem_ … Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meetcha." He began jogging alongside us, the three of us now heading in the direction Shiori said the closest battle was in. "That was a lot of Trion back there, huh?"

"I-I guess," Chika blushed slightly in embarrassment. "It wasn't anything _spectacular_ …"

" _Don't sell yourself short_ ," I chopped her head lightly, before facing forward to avoid any eye contact with either of them. "You did great."

( _I'm freaking out. I'M FREAKING OUT. STOP FREAKING OUT._ ** _NO. 1 SQUAD_** _. FUCKIN' HELL_ —)

"So you're the _Tamakoma Trion monster_ , huh…?" He wondered out loud.

Chika suddenly shivered, feet freezing as she lagged behind us.

I came to a halt, Izumi not too far behind me as I turned around to face her worriedly. "Chika?"

"… _Birds_ …" She paled, hands gripping the rifle tighter. "… _Something's coming…!_ "

I froze, and my hand came up to the side of my head in an instant. "Shiori, how close are we to Midorikawa-senpai and Yoneya-senpai?"

She groaned. **_"Uuuuhhhh… Not too far, but if Chika-chan's side effect is going off, then I don't think you'll have enough time to help them take out the Rabbits before any other danger arrives!"_**

"She has a side effect **_too_**?!" Izumi repeated, eyes flickering to Chika.

 ** _"The Radars are picking something up!"_** Tachikawa squad's operator warned quickly. **_"Judging by the Trion reading, I think it's a—!"_**

My breath caught in my throat as all three pairs of eyes flickered upwards at one of the nearby abandoned apartment complexes, a dark figure on the roof.

Their cloak whipped around in the air threateningly, one hand outstretched as something that appeared to be glowing hovered in their palm.

 ** _"—A humanoid Neighbour…!"_**

Izumi prepared an Asteroid cube in his hand, and Chika lifted up her rifle beside me.

 ** _"An attack is coming!"_** Shiori yelled as another Meteora formed in my hand shakily.

-0-

A black spike jabbed outwards.

There was a flash of light and a scoff.

"Honestly, making me do something so fucking dumb…" Enedora growled. "Do you know how fucking boring it is to kill someone this way…?"

 ** _"Sorry!"_** Utagawa apologized from over Mikami's shoulder in the operator's room. **_"I got too close to him."_**

"Damn _right_ you did," Kikuchihara clicked his tongue, Chameleon fading away as he landed beside Karasuma. "Mikami, did you manage to analyze anything _useful_ from that…?"

 ** _"Nothing,"_** She confirmed solemnly. **_"There's next to no openings with this guy, despite his seemingly irritable nature…"_**

"The liquifying ability is a hassle," Karasuma commented. "And there's no point in me using my Geist until I know how it works."

Kikuchihara's eyes twitched, and his eyes scanned the area warily as Mikami blinked.

 ** _"Kikuchihara?"_** She began curiously, eyes on the screen. **_"Are you ok?"_**

"…The air sounds _weird_ ," Kikuchihara's eyebrows scrunched. "It's almost as if it's… **_heavier_**."

 ** _"As in, humidity?"_** Utagawa asked curiously over the radio. **_"Do you think, that if he has the ability to liquify…?"_**

"Could he turn into a gaseous form as well?" Karasuma finished. "Or somehow disperse his body into the air…Maybe that's how he manages to get the blades into our Trion bodies."

"…How annoying," Kikuchihara grumbled. " _How are we supposed to kill him if he can turn into a liquid or a gas_?"

 ** _"No matter what form, every Trion body has a Trion supply system and a relay centre."_**

Kikuchihara and Karasuma jolted, hands coming up to their ears in surprise.

" **Kazama** ," Karasuma began. "You've been awfully quiet."

 ** _"Tried to help Mikami analyze the black Trigger,"_** Was his clipped reply. **_"But it seems you three came up with something better than we have."_**

" _Seems like it_ , but how are we supposed to approach him?" Kikuchihara groaned. "By the way, I can hear footsteps approaching us from behind the house over there."

 ** _"—That's Konami!"_** Shiori confirmed, switching communication lines again. **_"She finished off the Trion soldiers as quick as she could and— Gah, Miku-chan and Chika-chan are in danger—!"_** The radio hissed once again before she went back to the other group.

Kikuchihara turned his head, eyes catching the form of somebody stepping over one of the nearby houses. "Ah, there she is."

 ** _"Torimaru, Kikuchihara!"_** Konami yelled over the radio. **_"I heard you three were dealing with a black Trigger!"_**

-0-

"…What the hell are these Meeden small fry doing…?" Enedora grumbled, black liquid-like spikes swirling around his form menacingly. " _There's another one over there_ …"

 _"Enedora."_ Mira's sharp voice came from the small portal beside his ear. _"The baby birds and the Golden egg are getting away, finish your opponents off quickly and go after them."_

" ** _Hah_**?!" He raised his voice slightly, one of the spikes lashing out slightly more aggressively. "I'll do whatever I want! Besides, you said Hairein's gotten off his goddamn ass and started chasing after them himself anyway! I'll go kill the rest of the Meeden **_once_** these ones have gone off and died."

-0-

 ** _"I have Meteora, so I don't need to get too close,"_** Konami offered. ** _"And Sogetsu wouldn't work even if I could get close, since he can just go and liquify."_**

"What a _pain_ ," Kikuchihara grumbled. "He's not even in too much of a hurry to kill us. So it seems to think we have a bit of time to strategize."

 ** _"What an overpowered black Trigger, and with such an aggravating guy too…"_** Konami grumbled, lifting on Sogetsu to rest on her shoulder. **_"Any ideas?"_**

 ** _"…You've been awfully quiet, Karasuma,"_** Kazama cut in sharply. **_"Got anything in mind?"_**

Said male stayed quiet, hands loosely gripping his gun as he tilted his head upwards.

 ** _"…Torimaru?"_** Konami inquired, just before he opened his mouth to start talking.

"Maybe my student's been rubbing off on me more than I expected," He began, eyes scanning the sky serenely.

There was a slightly shocked beat of silence.

 ** _"…Eh?"_** Mikami was about to ask him what he meant, but Karasuma went on.

"Because, a few months ago…" He continued. "… ** _I don't think that blowing everything up would be the first thing that comes to mind_**."

 ** _"What…?"_** Konami squinted, trying to get a good glance at his expression from across the street and on top of the roof.

"Geist _on_ ," Karasuma muttered with a startlingly blank expression, arms lifting as his gun began to shift unnervingly. " _Gunner shift_ …"

" _Uh_." Kikuchihara glanced at the teen beside him as his eye twitched. " _What_?"

"… **Firepower focus**."

Karasuma's gun morphed as the barrel enlarged and began emitting an eerie glow, the bullets inside heating and powering up as Kikuchihara's eyes widened.

Karasuma's glove beeped alarmingly, and a clear voice spoke up clearly through the communicators.

 ** _"260 seconds until Bail out. Begin countdown."_**

Konami shrieked and jumped behind the houses she had been standing on.

Enedora's eyebrow raised as he stared straight at the rapidly heating up gun of Karasuma. " _What the_ —"

Everything exploded into a world of white noise and fire.

-0-

There was an alarmingly loud ' _BOOM_ ' in the distance.

"What the heck was _that?!_ " Izumi yelled, all of us raising our arms as a strong wind blew through the area. "That was a _huge_ explosion!"

"Shiori?!" I tapped the communicator impatiently. "Was the one of the Neighbours…? Or _just_ a Border agent?!"

She was silent for a moment before her voice came out semi muffled, like she was holding her hand against her face. **_"I'll just say… that was mostly your fault."_**

" _What_?" I shrieked. " _What did_ ** _I_** _do_?!"

 ** _"Never mind!"_** She switched the topic. **_"One more corner to Midorikawa and Yosuke, the humanoid Neighbour is approaching!"_**

"Alright, let's get going." Izumi quickened his pace and pulled in front of us, turning the corner first and readying a cube of Asteroid.

"Right behind you," I mumbled.

All three of us stepped onto the road, just in time to watch multiple glowing birds swoop down from the skies, and glide swiftly towards the panicked C-ranks.

Much to our horror, anybody that was touched by the luminescent animals let out one last scream, before promptly shifting into a defenceless cube.

" ** _It's the same ability as the new models!"_** Shiori thought out-loud, just as Izumi pushed all three of us out of the way of a bird.

" _Don't let them touch you!_ " He wanted, firing Asteroid bullets at a few of the birds that dared to try to get close.

"Bullets shaped like animals!" Midorikawa shifted both Scorpions in his grip from across the street, eyes trained on the approaching birds. "The way they move is _pretty complex_ …"

Yoneya grinned, spear spinning as he swung at any nearby glowing animals. "But not quick _enough_ that they _can't_ be hit!"

My eyes scanned the birds that were hit by any of Izumi's bullets, before widening as they caught the small cubes littering the ground around us. " _It won't work_!" I yelled, just a second too late.

The two of them glanced down at what was left of their weapons, eyes widening in shock.

" _The new models!_ " Izumi warned, firing a Gimlet at the Rabbit that snuck up behind Yoneya, who had also made an attempt to dodge the Rabbit's swing.

Midorikawa wasn't so lucky however, as the Rabbit he was previously holding off slammed him into the ground.

"Midori— _shit_!" I pushed Chika away from another flurry of birds, watching in slight horror as The birds gathered and rushed towards the trapped Midorikawa.

"Shield!" He raised his free arm, but numbers eventually won, and broke through the small shield and hit him in the face.

" _Uh oh_ —" He grit his teeth, face quickly shifting and going slack. **_"BAIL OUT!"  
_**

He disappeared from under the Rabbit's arms, and I let out a small breath of relief when I saw no cube in the crater. "The Neighbour's coordinating with the Rabbits!" I yelled, and Chika lifted her Ibis to aim at the Rabbit standing in the crater where Midorikawa had been.

"The tables have turned _again_ —" Izumi fired another set of Asteroid at the Rabbit in front of Yoneya. "—And they're _clearly_ after the C-ranks this time!"

Yoneya's eyes shifted over to Chika and I. "Four-eyes-chan! _Take the girl and run!_ "

Chika aimed at the Rabbit, but I scooped her up and dodged as the Rabbit launched itself towards her.

"I think it's time for us to _run_!" I screamed, watching her shot miss and land itself in the Trion soldiers shoulder, due to the interference of both of the Rabbit and myself. "You get hit by one of those birds, and _you're done for_!"

-0-

Izumi paused, the bullets he was firing coming to an abbrupt halt as the Rabbit chased Yoneya around another corner and out of his sight.

He clicked his tongue, stepping forward and preparing to chase after them. "Everyone keeps getting split up over and over again…"

There was a small ' _clack_ ' from behind him as Hairein's shoes touched the ground softly.

" _Oh_ , so you came over to fight me yourself." Izumi turned suddenly, facing the humanoid Neighbour with narrowed eyes. Asteroid bullets floated in the air around him as birds formed out of the egg in Hairein's hand.

Hairein gazed boredly at his opponent, eyes half-lidded as he watched the bullets uncaringly. "…This will be quick."

-0-

" _Wai_ —! We can help them!" She called back to me, hastily slung over my shoulder. "Mori, _stop_!"

I hissed through my teeth and made a sharp turn to dodge the Rabbit's beam aimed at us, watching the light flash past us and blow up a house. " _We can't do everything_ , Chika!"

"We can try!" She denied, Ibis fading from her hands as she tried to pry my hands from around her waist. "There's always something we can do to help! I—"

"Just let me take you to a safe spot!" I cut her off, slightly panicked as the Rabbit continued to chase us. " _You're one of the_ —!"

"I don't care if I'm a target!" She protested. "It doesn't matter, because I have a Trigger! I have the means to go over there and help Border fight off the Neighbours, and I need to get that through your head! Because you're the one who taught me that I need to speak up when I believe something is right!"

I let out a shaky, aggravated sigh that turned into a groan mid-way through. " ** _FINE!_** But can we— _for the love of god_ —just deal with the Rabbit chasing us **_for now_**?!"

Her struggling came to an abrupt halt as she used her arms to instead position herself differently in my grip, lifting her head so she could see our opponent better.

( _The opponent I'm running away from._ ** _Wonderful_** _role model, Mori._ )

"… _My Trion_."

"Huh?!" I tried to turn my head back to see her expression but paid the price very quickly for getting distracted as a beam came a bit too close to obliterating us. The explosion shook the ground around us, and a small stone hit the back of my heel in warning.

"Use my Trion!" She raised her voice to be heard over the chaos around us. "For your Meteora!"

I yelped in response, nearly tripping over my feet ins surprise as I ducked around a corner, the Rabbit still a decent distance behind that we could have a few minutes to breathe. "What?! We'd _completely_ obliterate the area—!"

"Only if _you_ spread it out too much," She corrected me hurriedly, face still withholding a semblance of calmness despite my panic and the stress of the situation. "If _you_ focus it, we can get it to work just like my Ibis."

"Why don't you just use your Trigger then? You don't need my help!" I asked, slightly ashamed that she was holding up better than I was. She was barely panicking and analyzing the situation calmly.

( ** _Some_** _leader_.)

"I don't have enough time to aim, _and I can't fire in quick succession!_ " She raised her voice at the end as another explosion sounded out from just next to our position. "If we use your Meteora, we can keep shooting at it until it's down! It's the quickest way."

I took a deep breath and ran an aggravated hand over my face and through my hair.

"… _Shiori_? Are you still there?"

There was a slight hiss of static, but no response.

"…Replica?"

The mini-Replica rose from where he'd been hiding in Chika's pocket. "I'm here."

"… _This is a horrible, not-that-terrible idea_."

"That it is," He agreed, and Chika's smile widened slightly as I stuck out my hand to her. "I suppose you've been rubbing off on her." He joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Excuse me?" I tried to stifle a weary chuckle. "…I hope you're not blaming me for this."

"No, it's _both_ of our faults." Chika nodded, both hands reaching out as she tightly gripped my glove.

 ** _"Temporary Trigger link established."_**

"I guess." I took another deep breath. "Sorry, you can feel me shaking now, can't you."

She nodded, and I heard the heavy ' _thud_ 's of the Rabbit's footsteps as it closed in on our location. "It doesn't matter if you're still shaking, _you're also still here_. **_Still fighting_**. That's all that matters."

I nodded, the movement a little jerky than it should've been. "Replica, go hide in Chika's pocket again."

He complied easily, floating down to the spot specified and hiding inside the folds of the fabric.

I got up, Chika not too far behind me.

And then, we ran around the corner.

"Ready to aim!" I began, not even jolting in surprise as the Rabbit was directly in front of us.

" ** _METEORA!_** "

I felt Trion pump through my Trigger, so much that it almost felt alive as it flowed into my gloves and released into a bullet.

The cube was enormous and almost blocked my vision of the Rabbit in front of us. Chika jolted in shock at the size, but this was what I had been expecting.

( _Chika's so much more amazing than anybody ever expects_.)

" _FIRE_!" I yelled, the cube splitting up and dividing under my hands, before all at once…

The Rabbit exploded.

As a matter of fact, so did the few blocks behind it.

-0-

Replica hovered in the air, idly reabsorbing the mini-Replica that had flown out of Chika's pocket.

"Seems Yuma didn't need to send me after all. You two have grown."

Mori groaned, tugging on her hair distractedly. "I think you were just _too damn late_. We could've used your help **_earlier_**."

Replica's bobbing paused momentarily, before resuming. "… _I apologize_. I will do my best to be quicker next time."

Chika nodded, smile widening as she glanced at the two of us together.

"Thank you for coming for us, **_Replica_**."

-0-

"Hound!"

Izumi shot some bullets at the humanoid Neighbour that just arrived, all of the birds approaching him not even making it close.

"I won't let a single one get through." He stated, eyes scanning the swarm of animals getting shot down one by one.

Hairein nodded. " _Good skills_ … However…"

Izumi jolted as he felt something crawling on his legs, and his eyes flickered down in surprise.

' _Lizards?!_ '

They activated in an instant, not doing enough damage to cubify him in an instant, but causing his legs to go limp as the shooter fell to the ground.

"High firepower," Hairein observed as Izumi dropped to the ground. " _Excellent control_. Befitting of one that exchanged fire with Ranbanein."

"A feint, huh?" Izumi grit his teeth. "You're full of surprises."

"Perhaps." Hairein nodded, hand reaching out further as the glowing egg in his hand released a few more birds. "…You have _great_ skill. Perhaps I can… **_capture and add you to my team_**."

Izumi's head snapped up, voice dropping low as he fought to not show any fear in his voice.

"… _What did you just say?_ "

"Not only that, but the Meeden Trigger in your possession could prove to be interesting to research," Hairein thought out loud. "I suppose the golden egg isn't the only benefit of this mission, _Meeden truly has some skilled fighters_."

Izumi's eyes widened as he hurriedly spoke into his communicator. " ** _Kunichika, Bail—!_** "

He was cut off as birds swiftly glided towards him.

There was a small flash of light before a cube clattered to the ground, useless and cut off from the world.

Hairein stepped towards the object, hand reaching down to pick it up.

He flipped the perfect cube over in his hands. " ** _…After all, we do need a replacement for Enedora after this mission._** "

-0-

 ** _"We've lost connection with Izumi Kohei from Tachikawa squad!"_**

A blade stopped inches from the core of a shaking, terrified Trion soldier.

 ** _"He was fighting against the newest humanoid Neighbour, who has the same abilities as the new Models to cubify people!"_**

The Trion soldier shivered in fear of the person before them, before dragging itself in a deadman's crawl away from them, legs already cut off and forgotten behind them.

( _Nonononomonsterthey'reamonsternooneisthispowerfulwithoutablacktriggermustrunrun_ ** _runrunrun—!_** )

The core split instantly.

A black Trion cloud leaked out of the clean cut, the Trion solder sputtering to a halt and collapsing to the ground.

"…Ah."

A mountain of corpses lay underfoot.

Rabbits, Vanders, Marmods, and Bado corpses strewn across the area.

" _It seems like I'm needed elsewhere_."

There was a quick tap of the communicator, as the figure clutched their sword tightly.

 _"…Touma, Narasaka, Kodera. Could I trouble you to take over for me?"_

The figure disappeared in a flash, without waiting for a refusal.

-0-

Konami coughed, more reflexively than anything.

Kikuchihara scowled from where he had hastily hidden behind a rock, dust clouds slowly settle down as he strained his ears to hear anything other than this damn incessant ringing. "Was that _necessary_ …?"

Karasuma shifted the large gun in his grip, eyes squinted so that he could see through the smoke. "Possibly. Possibly not."

 ** _"30 seconds until Bail out."_**

"I don't have much time left," Karasuma thought out loud. "If there's anything left of his Trion body, we should destroy it before he has a chance to reform."

"Oh, _great_." Konami leapt over the edge of the destroyed house, eyes widening as she finally got a good look at the enormous crater barely staying within the emergence zone. "…How are we supposed to find anything with this dust in the air?"

Karasuma lifted his hand over his eyes as he peered through the dust cloud. "… _Perhaps I didn't think this through_."

 ** _"I'll say, Miku-chan's rubbed off on you more than we thought!"_** Shiori teased through the communicators. **_"…The explosion barely stayed within the emergence area!"_**

" _What the hell_." Kikuchihara grumbled, eyes scanning the landscape with a twitching eye as the ringing in his ears died down. "I can't hear anything."

 ** _"…How…?"_** Mikami breathed out, eyes wide and unblinking as she stared at the screen in front of her. Kazama regained his composure fairly quickly, as he leaned on the back of his operator's chair.

 ** _"The black Trigger could be anywhere, be on guard,"_** His red eyes scanned the screen as well, trying to help search for the Neighbour. **_"…Like Kikuchihara and Konami did, he could have easily hidden behind a particularly thick piece of rubble."_**

"So this was all for nothing," Konami groused, both Sogetsu spinning in her hands. She kicked a stray stone over, the rock clattering against any of its obstacles as it rolled around. "I don't see any _thing_."

Kikuchihara smacked his palm flat against the side of his head, stepping up to check the crater beside Konami. "Can't hear a damn thing _either_."

"Apologies," Karasuma dryly responded. "It was a… _spur of the moment_ thing." He paused for a moment, before turning to Konami.

"…I don't have much longer here."

Konami scowled, waving her hand dismissively. "I know, _I know_. Don't worry about it, Mori has Chika and Replica with her. _She'll be_ ** _fine_**."

Karasuma was still before he nodded. "Thank you."

 ** _"Trion over-leakage. Bail out."_**

With a flash of light, he was gone.

The nearby collapsed house(mostly a pile of rubble) exploded just a moment after, and the liquified, still reforming figure of Enedora hauled itself from the rocks.

"Is _that_ annoying _bastard_ finally _dead_?!" His half-formed, bubbling mouth growled. " _YOU_ MEEDEN _MONKEYS_! **I'LL _KILL_ YOU _ALL_!**"

Konami and Kikuchihara's eyes trained on the diamond-like object half-visible within the slowly forming torso.

"There it is," Konami growled. "We don't have any more time to waste with you."

-0-

Yoneya swung his spear at the Rabbit in front of him, expression unusually unhappy.

"Tsukimi, where was that bullet-brain last?"

The operator taped a few keys on her keyboard, pulling up what Kunichika had typed up so far. **_"…He was hit by the newest humanoid Neighbour's attack. They lost connection with him after that… and I believe the Neighbour is heading your way now."_**

"Not going after four-eyes and the girl, huh?" Yoneya frowned. "That's good, but I don't think I'll last long without backup."

" _Indeed_."

Yoneya's head swung upwards, eyes catching sight of a cloaked figure landing on a nearby roof.

"…How much time can I buy?" Yoneya asked, lifting his spear while keeping his eyes on both the Rabbit and Hairein.

Hairein lifted his hand, glowing egg releasing luminescent animals. "What _futile_ attempts."

-0-

"Chika, I know we said we'd help them out, but…" A bead of sweat went down my temple despite being in my Trion body. "… _I don't know what we can do_."

She peeked over the half-destroyed wall we were hiding behind, eyes trained on the three figures in the middle of the street. "We can take out the Rabbit."

" _Yeah_ , but that'd draw their attention." I groaned, back sliding down the wall as I adjust my glasses as a nervous habit. "Izumi-senpai and Yoneya-senpai already told us to leave… _Wait a minute_." I paused, joining Chika to look over the wall confusedly. "Where'd Izumi-senpai go anyway? I thought he was fighting the humanoid Neighbour, and I didn't see a Bail out from anywhere near us…"

There was a hiss of static before Shiori's slightly panicked voice came through. **_"Kunichika-chan and I lost connection with Izumi a few seconds ago! You can't see him anywhere?"_**

I shook my head distractedly, despite the fact that she couldn't see the motion. "Nope." My eyes squinted as I tried to make out exact details. "I can't see—"

I froze, and Chika glanced up at me worriedly. "What do you see?"

"Shiori, _bad news_." I choked out, eyes not moving from the faintly glowing object in the Neighbours other hand, mostly hidden by his cloak. " _I found Izumi-senpai_."

 ** _"How's that bad news?!"_** She yelled, but I couldn't even find it in myself to wince at the volume. ** _"Where is he?! Why isn't his communication system working?!"_**

"He got cubified," I muttered, and hammered the final nail in the coffin before Chika's eyes could finish widening. " _And is currently in the Neighbour's grasp_. I can see a cube bigger than the rest of them in the fucker's hand."

Shiori gasped, and Chika lifted her body to peer over the stone hurriedly. She fell back down beside me a moment later, face pale.

"…How can you tell it was bigger?" She mumbled. " _It looked the same to me_ , maybe—?"

"It's a small difference, but I can see that it's definitely bigger." I cut her off, guilt pooling in my stomach as her expression dropped. "…Why didn't he just settle with the agents captured by the Rabbit's though, why _specifically_ grab Izumi-senpai?"

 ** _"That's not important,"_** Shiori interrupted me with steel in her tone. **_"What's important, is that Yosuke can't take that guy on his own while holding off a new model, and if the Neighbour's are going around grabbing A-rank agents…"_**

There was a small shake in her voice, and I felt slightly guilty for forgetting that she was Yoneya's cousin.

And probably worried sick about all of us.

A robotic whirr snapped me out of my thoughts, and my attention was wrenched from the battlefield as Replica bobbed in the air beside us two.

"I think," He began hesitantly. "That I may have an idea."

There was a long pause. "And it's quite unfortunate that this is all I can come up with, because this is going to get quite chaotic."

I gave him a shaky grin. "What do you have in mind, Replica-sensei?"

-0-

Once again, the spear turned into a few separate cubes as he swung it at the approaching birds.

"Pointless," Hairein's clipped comment came, and Yoneya grit his teeth as he reformed the Kogetsu in his other hand.

" _Is it now_?" He shot back, jumping back to avoid the arm the Rabbit swung at him. "Because the way **_I_** see it, I'm buying quite a lot of time."

Hairein eyes narrowed. "Is that what you think?"

Yoneya ducked to avoid the birds, before jumping forward to avoid being caught in between both of his opponents. "Yup."

The Neighbour huffed, lifting the glowing egg just slightly once again. "Making assumptions is a _fatal_ mistake on the battlefield."

"I would say the _same_ goes for _you_."

Both males jolted at the new voice, heads swinging around to catch sight of the floating object in the air not too far from them.

"A Trion soldier?" Yoneya thought out loud, just before his communicator buzzed. He paused to listen before a small grin began to form on his face. "… _I see_."

"… _That's not one of ours_ ," Hairein mumbled in thought. "What are you?"

Replica hummed, bobbing in the air in a nonchalant manner. "I wonder. But I suppose it's not exactly the time for pleasantries, is it."

A luminescent orange seal formed on Replica's head, the kanji for ' _gate_ ' forming almost mockingly. " **Gate**."

A black toned Rabbit emerged forth from the black rip in the air.

The rip in the air, the portal that formed right above Hairein's head.

"The invasion is reaching its climax, I suppose it's time to pull out _all stops_."

The Rabbit swung it's arm downwards, just as Hairein's eyes widened in shock.

The ground shook from the force as the Rabbit slammed its fist into the road.

-0-

"Whew, that was _close_!" Yoneya chuckled, having ducked behind the half-destroyed wall along with Chika, all according to Shiori's instructions. "But I thought you two were supposed to have run away…?" He trailed off in a silent question.

Chika smiled sheepishly. "We couldn't just stand back and do _nothing_."

"I suppose not!" He laughed, despite the stress and general awfulness of the situation. "But then, where's four-eyes-chan?" He asked.

Chika's smile remained, although the sheepishness shifted into something more similar to knowingness. "… _Well_ , I suppose she's over there with Replica."

Before Yoneya could even ask her _what the hell that meant_ , she lifted her Ibis and positioned it over the wall carefully, aiming and preparing to fire on the signal.

-0-

Hairein leapt backwards to avoid the Rabbit's fist, although the tremors in the ground nearly caused him to lose his balance. "A _Rabbit_?!"

Replica pulled back slightly, seal disappearing from his head as he faced Hairein from afar. "…Mori, Chika, _on the signal._ "

The Rabbit shook off the rubble from its fist, before an opening it's mouth to create a seal. A shield formed at the last second, the translucent wall blocking any birds from passing and hitting the Trion soldier. Although the shield fell to the ground, useless, in the form of cubes, it served its purpose.

The Rabbit's mouth stayed open, the ' _shield_ ' seal being wiped from the air before being replaced by a ' _bolt_ ' seal.

The seal began rapid-firing Trion bullets at Hairein, who quickly summoned a flurry of birds to block every shot before they could make contact.

A few stray shots utterly decimated the last Rabbit in the background, but that was a small feat compared to the rest of this.

"Go." Replica stated, just before a small, less focused bullet pierced through the rest and blasted away most of the birds, cubes falling to the ground uselessly. However, the Rabbit continued to fire bullets, and one of the shots blasted Hairein's arm off before he could conjure more birds.

"What?" He jolted in shock, eyes widening as black Trion gushed from the stump. " _Where_ —?"

The shot that had cleared out most of the birds came from Chika, who had begun running away from her hiding spot with Yoneya right behind her.

The Rabbit's bullets finally came to a halt, and Hairein directed a few of the birds from his shield to fly towards the black Trion soldier, cubifying it in seconds.

However, to finish it off, another bullet came from the opposite side of Chika's shot and blasted off his other arm, the limb and Izumi's cube flying through the air with the force of the explosion.

And Hairein could only watch in shock as Mori slowly became visible to the rest of the world, a seal reading as ' _blend_ ' slowly fading from where it was situated on her back.

And before anybody could move, with a shaky, smug grin, she grabbed the cube and ran.

-0-

"Oh, that was _so_ sick!" Yoneya complemented, and I thanked the gods that I was in a Trion body instead of my real body, or else I'd be blushing as red as a fire hydrant right now.

"You were cooler," I shot back, genuinely amazed. "You literally held off a humanoid Neighbour along with a new model, which are literally known for being able to take A-rank agents if they're alone! That was amazing, and you're not even injured!"

"Oh c'mon!" He slapped me in the arm, spear in his other hand for the time being. "You went in there and— _holy_ did you see his face! Also—!"

He turned to Chika, who sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "—When you cleared out all of the birds he was hiding behind?! _I wish I had a camera, that was awesome_!"

 ** _"That was amazing!"_** Shiori cheered through the radio. **_"Replica, why'd you say that was a bad plan? You guys totally DUPED him!"_**

Replica's monotone expression seemed to be more bland than usual. And _**that**_ was saying something.

"…We **_literally_** dropped a Trion soldier on his head."

 ** _"Yup!"_** Shiori agreed, Yoneya nodding along with her voice with a grin.

"…A new version, which they've **_specifically_** only brought to this planet this time, and it attacked him _directly_ afterwards."

"That was _great_!" Yoneya complemented, as Chika stuck a hesitant thumbs up.

Replica's voice remained frighteningly blank. "In which we proceeded to use our stolen technology, previously from our own organization, to swoop in and retrieve our comrade."

"Hey, it's not like I'm _HQ_ ," Yoneya shrugged, before pausing in contemplation. "Well, _I am_ , but I don't **_really_** care. We knew you and shrimp could steal Trigger abilities anyway, it shouldn't have been _too_ much of a surprise." His expression picked back up as he pointed to the cube in my grip. "Besides! If you guys are right with your guess that bullet-brains went and got hit, _then we got him back no-problem_! I don't really care **_too_** much about what HQ has to say about you two, as long as all of us are safe. You know?"

Chika nodded agreeably. "That's what matters. _All of us are safe_."

Yoneya opened his mouth to say something else, but before he could say a word, all of our communicators buzzed.

 ** _"—HQ here, can we have a report?"_**

Shiori gasped, pressing a button that made a fairly loud 'click' noise. **_"Oh I forgot to contact HQ, I'm sorry!"_**

 ** _"What happened?"_** Shinoda asked, voice tense. **_"We caught sight of many explosions coming from your direction. The last report we got from your group was from Kunichika from Tachikawa squad, telling us that we lost contact with Izumi Kohei."_**

 ** _"He's believed to have been hit by the humanoid Neighbour's attack,"_** Shiori explained. **_"We've retrieved the cube that we believe to be him from the Neighbour. We're still unsure why they tried to kidnap him in the first place though…"_**

 ** _"Kidnapping A-rank agents themselves?!"_** Shinoda exclaimed. **_"Why wouldn't they just leave that to the new models?"_**

"…Maybe they ran out," I mumbled quietly, before realizing just how absolutely dumb that sounded out loud.

Yoneya muffled a quiet chuckle, and I slapped a palm to my face.

"As ludicrous as it sounds, that is a possibility," Replica agreed, and my head snapped up in surprise at the sheer ridiculousness of the simple solution. "Like I previously stated, Rabbits cost quite a bit in terms of Trion consumption. If they're so desperate that they poured this much manpower into their attack… then it's possible that their home country is running low on Trion. Which means that the amount of Rabbits they can bring on an invasion is _severely limited_."

 ** _"Well, kidnapping A-rank agents or not, it doesn't really matter,"_** Shiori cut in distractedly, not really aware of how rude that sounded. **_"There're no A-rank agents protecting the trainees, so we need someone to go over there, and SOON."_**

"Also, I still need to get Chika to HQ," I commented. "I'm pretty sure they're _specifically_ targeting her, the Rabbit came after us specifically instead of anyone else. Also, the humanoid Neighbour with the magnet Trigger shot at her specifically, **twice**."

"Should I go after the trainees then?" Yoneya asked. "As long as there are no other humanoid Neighbours lurking around, I'm pretty sure I can handle it…"

 ** _"Miwa's also heading over there, since he finished cleaning out the area he was in earlier,"_** Yoneya's operator stated sharply. although I think that was just her natural voice. **_"You should go over there and meet up with him to re-gather and escort the C-ranks."_**

"Did they all just scatter in a panic when the Rabbits attacked?" I murmured, and Chika gave me a slightly exasperated nod in response. I sighed heavily, lifting my glasses to pinch my nose. "Alright, I guess we have to split up here then—"

 _"Duck!"_

I grabbed Chika and covered her and the cube in my hands with my body as I pushed her to the ground in response to the yell. I could see Yoneya dropping to the ground in a similar fashion a little further away from us as glowing birds flew from over the roof of a nearby house and just barely missed us. They dissipated once they hit the wall of a nearby house, though the barrage of luminescent animals didn't cease.

One of the birds barely grazed my arm, and I shot a small, hastily created Meteora to blast the limb off as a cube fell to the ground uselessly.

" _How'd he find us_?!" I asked through the communicator in a panic, the loss of half my arm throwing me off balance for a second.

 ** _"I don't know, but he's not in range to aim properly!"_** Shiori responded quickly. **_"He's probably making an approximate guess based on what direction you ran away from, but he can't tell if he hits you until he makes his way over there!"_**

"Alright then, I guess we'll just _keep running_ then," I grumbled, before turning to Yoneya. "Are you still going to meet up with Miwa?"

"Yeah, the rest of the C-ranks need the most protecting right now," He shifted his spear in his grip. "Are you alright over here?"

"Yeah, we'll be fine!" I yelled back, motioning for Chika to follow me in the direction of HQ and away from the birds. I gathered the two cubes on the ground to hold onto, balance slightly thrown off with one arm blown off. "We're bringing back Izumi-senpai too, alright?"

"Yeah, get bullet-brains back to HQ!" He agreed, before running off. " _Stay safe_ , you two!"

Chika sped up, turning to me as she glanced at me worriedly. "Mori, _your arm_ …!"

"It's fine, it's just elbow-down," I brushed off her worries. "Let's just get to HQ before—"

 ** _"Left!"_**

Chika and I moved to the side quickly, the bird swooping down barely missing Chika's head as it crashed into the ground.

"Thank you Shiori," Chika breathed, before the three of us ducked into a half-destroyed building to hide from the newest wave of birds.

"Chika, Shiori, Replica. Did you guys know that I've spent around _fifty percent of this damn invasion hiding behind walls and rubble while complaining about the general situation_?"

Replica made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a sigh, but had nothing to refute that statement with.

"We still don't know where he is," Chika commented, re-forming an Ibis in her hand, and using the scope to peek outside and glance around. "…There're too many birds for me to get a good look."

I paused, spacing out for a second as I lost myself in thought. "…We need to get you to HQ as soon as possible."

 ** _"Yeah, but how do we do that…?"_** Shiori wondered out loud. **_"We don't know which way the humanoid Neighbour went, if he's chasing after you and Chika-chan or Yosuke, but either way, these birds have no sign of letting up…"_**

"Let's just think worst-case scenario, _and he's coming our way_ ," I mumbled distractedly. "Chika needs to get out of here. We need to get Chika out of here, _gotta think of a_ —"

I froze.

-0-

"I don't see him," Chika murmured.

"Here, Chika," Mori reached out with her hand, deactivating her Trigger. "Pass—"

 ** _"Mori, what are you doing?!"_** Shiori shrieked. ** _"Turn your Trigger back on, you're completely defenceless right now!"_**

"Chika, switch with me," Mori went on, unperturbed. "Let's see if my side-effect can pick up something you can't."

Chika paused, lowering her Ibis slightly. "Mori, _I don't think_ —"

"Just for a second." Mori stressed, holding out her Trigger. "You borrow mine while I take a look, so you're not defenceless."

Chika hesitated, before slowly switching off her Trigger. " _Alright_ …"

Shiori gasped. **_"Wait, side-effect? Miku-chan, since when?!"_**

"A _while_ ago," Mori replied, trading Triggers with Chika and switching it on just as fast. "I'm going to take a look."

"I'll move," Chika shuffled out of the way, allowing Mori access to the medium-sized crack that Chika had been using to look outside.

" _Gimme a moment_ …" Mori muttered, facing the hole as Chika shuffled over to sit beside Replica.

Chika turned on Mori's Trigger, watching quietly as the familiar white uniform covered her. "…Replica, can you think of anything?"

The Trion soldier stayed silent, before whirring quietly. "…I'm sorry. I wish there was another option… But I believe that Mori has the quickest solution."

Chika blinked. "… _Huh_?"

There was a beat of tense silence before there was a click as the barrel of the Ibis positioned itself at the back of Chika's head.

She had exactly 1 second for her eyes to widen in horror and betrayal, her mouth to open to try and force any words out, to tell her sister _not to even dare_ , but…

 _A flash of light._

 ** _"AMATORI CHIKA HAS BAILED OUT."_**


	8. Time Of Dying

QUICK THANKS TO MY BETA READER, TheForgottenFables! Many thanks, this would be shit without them!

Another quick thanks to anyone that bothered to _**favourite**_ , _**follow**_ , or _**review**_! _**IT MEANS THE WORLD TO ME** **!**_

-0-

 _Mori had thought it through, no matter what anyone else thought._

 _(They thought it was stupid and suicidal. They weren't wrong, but they also were under the assumption that Mori hadn't gone over the consequences in the slightest.)_

 _It was foolproof. The B-rank Triggers are equipped with a Bail out function, and even though Mori hadn't had enough time to add other Triggers to it, or get a proper B-rank uniform… The Bail out was still there. Without a doubt, what she had was a B-rank Trigger._

 _Switch with Chika, force her to Bail out. No matter what HQ had to say about that, or is the Neighbours figured out what she did, it didn't matter. Chika was safe._

 _But for the Neighbours… It was clear they had some sort of way to sense where they were, or how else would they keep finding them?_

 _It was a good thing Mori still had the cube from when her arm was hit earlier. And it was a good thing her Trion body automatically reset when she turned Chika's Trigger on, not a thing was out of place. She looked the same as she did before._

 _They'd think the cube in her hand was Chika, and that Yoneya took Izumi's cube. With the Rad incident from a few months ago, they probably know that Chika and I's uniforms indicated we where a lower rank, and therefore weaker. So to protect Izumi's cube, the smarter course of action would be to give him to Yoneya to protect._

 _Well, in the end, no matter what the Neighbours believed, only one thing mattered._

 _Chika was safe._

-0-

Chika's side-effect had not stopped going off since the beginning of the invasion.

That was almost 2 hours of straight grating on her senses, with spikes of fear and alarm in between as enemies continued to rush them, attack them.

It was taxing on her patience, but it was fine. As long as she was beside her friends, she could keep fighting. It was fine…

As long as she was beside her friends. Beside the agents of Tamakoma branch. Beside her two teammates. Beside her sister.

The silence that reigned over her mind was deafening.

( _Her side-effect… was so quiet now._ )

Now, she wants nothing more than to rush back into battle, because it would mean that Mori is beside her, alive, still fighting.

( _It's so very, very quiet_.)

-0-

 ** _"AMATORI CHIKA HAS BAILED OUT."_**

" _What_?!" Konami nearly stumbled even in the heat of battle, but Kikuchihara's shared enhanced hearing let her hear the incoming attack and evade before it could run her through.

"Pay _attention_ ," Kikuchihara scowled, Chameleon fading as he landed beside her on a particularly high piece of rubble. "Don't get distracted."

" ** _Shiori_**!" Konami spoke into her communicator, regardless of Kikuchihara's words. "Mikami-san?! What happened?!"

 ** _"I'm checking right now, Shiori isn't responding!"_** Mikami yelled back. Kazama and Utagawa were sharing bewildered glances over her shoulder, the former less expressive than the latter. **_"Karasuma-san over there isn't saying anything either…Wasn't Kizaki and Yotaro with them as well?!"_**

-0-

"Tsukimi, what was that?" Yoneya finally caught sight of one of the Rabbit chasing after the C-ranks, but worriedly spoke into his communicator instead of paying full attention to the battle.

 ** _"…I cut communications off with Usami as soon as you split from them, I know as much as you do right now,"_** She flatly responded. **_"Miwa's dealing with the other Rabbit, you two should finish relatively quickly, and go escort the trainees… I believe that's the best course of action right now."_**

Yoneya nodded slowly, but his eyes kept flickering in the direction he originally came from.

' _I saw that Bail out light, but C-ranks don't have that function in their Trigger… Four-eyes, what on earth did you do?_ '

-0-

Kunichika was panicking.

Although she was already alone, it was silent.

Her breathing came in just a little shorter than it should've, her eyes were just a bit wider than they should've been as she stared at the screen intently, her hands were sweating just barely, causing her grip on her mouse to slip every once in a while.

Yuiga wasn't here, _he never seemed to be here when it really mattered_.

Just like he wasn't there when they fought against Jin to retrieve the black Trigger, and he isn't here now.

Now, _when Izumi was nearly captured by the enemy Neighbours._

Now, _when Izumi is still in danger of being captured by the enemy Neighbours for god-knows-what-reason._

Izumi was still in cube form, and Kunichika couldn't help but feel like it was her fault. She could hear the dawning realization in his voice, she could hear the beginning of his order to Bail him out, and she wasn't quick enough in fulfilling that order.

They lost connection with him, and now he's out there on his own.

Tachikawa always had unwavering faith in the two of them, which was why he was so comfortable with leaving them to work on their own during this invasion while he was ordered to cover another section of the map.

He had unwavering faith in them, and now she had _let him down._

Kunichika wishes there was something else she could do, _just_ to make sure that everyone stayed safe for another day.

-0-

Azuma Haruaki was familiar with tactics.

( _Familiar was downplaying it by a hundred miles._ )

He was familiar with the feeling of defeat, and then hope once you realize that there's an opening you can exploit, a gap that you can formulate a winning plan around.

He was familiar with the feeling of being a captain. Of putting yourself on the line if it means the best for your team, he is much too familiar with those emotions. He used to be the leader of the No. 1 squad, for heaven's sake.

In fact, that last statement was why he was currently, and for nearly most of the invasion, connected to HQ via his communicator. If they needed something from him, he'd be there to help. Others had called him something like ' _The backbone_ ' of Border, and no matter how much he waved off the title, it seemed a name that couldn't be shaken off, even as a joke.

Regardless, he could hear everything happening.

Usami had obviously forgotten to cut off her connection to HQ in her panic, he idly mused, sniping down another Neighbour from the building he was hiding in. Not that he could blame her, being the operator for a team of four was no small task, but doing the work for Tamakoma-1, Jin, Mikumo, and the C-rank agent that they were prioritizing?

Honestly, he would've dropped his Ibis in shock, if he wasn't in the middle of an invasion.

' _A Trigger switch_ ,' Azuma thought. ' _It wasn't a bad idea… And for the sake of the C-rank, it was clearly the best option. But what does this mean for their team?_ '

C-rank Triggers aren't equipped with a Bail out function, and Agent Mikumo seems to have no intention to head back to HQ.

What's a team, _if the captain is dead?_

-0-

Midorikawa, who had been saddled with babysitting Yotaro( _who was making_ ** _far_** _too much noise when Karasuma was forced to Bail out_ ), walked over to the bench where said child was sitting, unusually quiet.

"Yotaro?" Midorikawa asked curiously, sitting down beside him with two drinks in hand. "What happened?"

The child kept staring at the ground before his gaze lifted a bit to stare at the capybara at his feet.

"…I dunno," Yotaro sniffled, gratefully taking the drink Midorikawa held out to him. "It's just— A-All of a sudden, I feel really sad. I d-don't know why."

Midorikawa paused, his own expression turning sombre as he leaned back against the wall beside Yotaro.

"…I," He began, eyes dropping to the floor. "…I'm worried about Izumin and Yoneyan too. I don't really know what to do."

Yotaro leaned sideways, hands gripping the edge of Midorikawa's blazer as he sniffled.

"I should've been paying attention," Midorikawa added morosely. "Maybe then, I could've still been out there fighting with them…"

He trailed off slowly, before tilting his head up at the ceiling.

"…I still need to apologize to Mikumo-senpai when all of this is over."

-0-

"Replica," Yuma muttered, gloved hand wiping his cheek absentmindedly as Trion leaked out. "You've been awfully quiet for a bit."

"It's nothing," The Trion soldier responded, tone flat although Yuma could still sense the lie woven in between the words. "Focus on your own battle."

Yuma paused, but turned back to Viza with a dark scowl marring his face nevertheless. "…I _hate_ it when you lie to me."

-0-

Jin's eyes remained flat and half-lidded, Scorpion batting away a magnetic shard absentmindedly.

' _I see_ ,' He sighed heavily, eyes flickering darkly for a moment before his cheery facade slipped back into place. ' _So that's what you chose to do_.'

He stared at Hyuse from across him, the Neighbour not familiar enough with him to see the lingering sadness in his eyes.

' _It's a 50/50 chance from here… and there's nothing else I can do, it seems. It's up to you three, Yuma, Miwa, and…_ '

-0-

 ** _"AMATORI CHIKA HAS BAILED OUT."_**

" _Chika-chan?!_ " Shiori spun around in her chair, eyes wide in horror as she stared at the mat that belonged to Mori.

The mat that was linked to Mori's Bail out.

Shiori tried again, desperately, as she got up and ran over to the bedside of the mattress to face Chika. "Chika-chan, _what happened?!_ "

Kizaki was standing eerily still at the door, eyes uncharacteristically wide in shock as he slowly stepped towards his pupil's other side. He played a gentle hand on her shoulder, shaking her gently as if to snap her out of a daze. "Amatori?"

Karasuma was still at the doorway, having been just behind Kizaki. There was silence for a few more moments.

Chika was still unresponsive, eyes pulled wide yet glazed over as she stared at nothing, still trying to comprehend the last few seconds that led up to this.

Her hands clenched tightly around the Trigger in her hand, and if you looked close enough, you could see the small tremors shaking her small frame.

Shiori ripped herself away from the bedside with a scowl, running back to the desk as she held the headphones up to her ear desperately. "Miku— ** _Mori_**! What happened, all I could hear was static for a second after you traded Triggers, and then—?!"

 ** _"I'm sorry."_**

There was dead silence, as Shiori tried to gather her thoughts to respond. "Mori, I don't g-get it, _wha_ —?"

There was a slightly muffled cough that cut the operator off. **_"I think… this was the best I could come up with such a limited amount of time. For all I try to keep my grades up and improve, it seems I'll always end up being a moron in the end…Huh?"_**

There was an audible shake to Shiori's voice as her hand tightened its grip on the headphones. "Mori, just please get back to HQ, now! All you have is a C-rank Trigger, you _need_ to hurry!"

 ** _"No, there's really not enough time…"_** Mori sighed. **_"Replica sent a mini-Replica ahead earlier, and just confirmed for me. The Neighbour guy is heading right towards me, I don't have enough time to get back to base without endangering the people there. There are tons of defenceless engineers and business workers, yeah, but…"_** She paused.

-0-

Unseen to everyone but the Trion soldier beside her, Mori's hand shook.

The tremor was worse than anything else she had ever gotten for the entire invasion, and she thanked the stars that her voice never wavered over the communicator.

Replica watched. Silently.

-0-

 ** _"…Chika's at HQ too."_** Shiori jolted at that statement, eyes wide behind her glasses as her fingers desperately grasped the headphones.

She never noticed in her panic that earlier, when Chika had first bailed out, she had pulled the headphones from their plug in her haste to get up.

She didn't notice that she wasn't the only one listening to Mori's words, the speakers of the computer doing their work as the headphones lost their connection.

She didn't notice Kizaki's eyes darken at Mori's words.

 **'Mikumo, protect Amatori with your life.'**

 **'Yes sir.'**

She didn't notice Karasuma nearly stumble by the door, usually blank expression twisting with something that was alike to regret and fear.

 **'Don't underestimate him.'**

 **'You don't need to tell me.'**

 **'…Don't push yourself, either.'**

 **Mori blinked in honest confusion, but he had already walked away by the time she had spun around.**

She didn't notice the icon in the corner of her computer, Kunichika, Mikami, and everyone else in their rooms still connected to the line as they wordlessly listened to Tamakoma's world fall apart.

Konami still on the battlefield, eyes narrowing in bitterness and hopelessness as she pushed herself harder, to fight the Neighbour in front of her, to listen, to fight, to win so that she could run over to Mori and get her to snap out of it.

 **'I know, I know. Don't worry about it, Mori has Chika and Replica with her. She'll be fine.'**

Kikuchihara, swinging his Scorpion not too far from her. Ears intently capturing every word over the radio.

 **'I didn't waste my time here for your empty head to not have learned anything!'**

 **'See you around, Kikuchihara-senpai!'**

She didn't notice that they hadn't yet cut communications with HQ from before, the directors sitting in their seats silently as they listened.

 **'Good grief four-eyes, look after her right, you hear me?!'**

 **'I wanted to thank you for all your help today. Especially for all of the information regarding the Neighbourhood.'**

 **'I see no fault in your logic, although there are more productive ways to spend your time than to steal a Trigger and run at a Neighbour, swinging around a weapon as if you're qualified to use it.'**

She didn't notice anything. It was as if the world was deafened, and the only thing she could hear was Mori giving a less-than-heartfelt goodbye over a goddamn combat-oriented communicator.

 ** _"…Say, Shiori, could you do me a favour? I'd ask Replica to say goodbye to Yuma for me, but I don't really think I'm mentally strong enough to do that right now—"_**

Shiori didn't notice Chika stand up from behind her, because Shiori couldn't breathe.

Her teams were her life, her family, people that she had always vowed to protect and support from her position as an operator. Kazama squad was her family, Tamakoma-1 was her family, and although they'd only been together for a few months…

Tamakoma-2 was her family too.

 ** _"Chika probably doesn't want to talk to me either,"_** Mori thought out loud over the radio, a bitter sigh slipping out of her throat. **_"I guess that's reasonable. After all, I'm not the first person to have left her a half-assed goodbye over the phone, I wouldn't blame her if—"_**

" _WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU SAY THAT?!_ "

-0-

Chika wasn't registering anything.

' _It was happening again_ ,' was all that she could think. ' _It's happening again, and it's all my fault_.'

A flash of Aoba's face went through her mind.

' _Again_.'

Rinji this time, a kind smile painting his face as the three of them sat down in their living room, talking about their dreams.

' _Again_.'

Mori this time, a light, embarrassed blush painting her cheeks as she sheepishly asked Chika if she could call her 'little sister'.

' _Why is it happening again? What am I doing wrong?!_ '

It was raining heavily outside, Chika wrapped in Mori's arms as she sobbed openly, freely, for the last time in her life.

Chika had always hated that day, having been the day that Mori changed. It was awful, and Chika knew it was all her and Rinji's fault. But she couldn't find it in herself to hate her older brother, so what could she have possibly done next?

Never cry again, never throw her burdens on other people.

Never throw her burdens on Mori, she's already done so much for her.

She's already given up her dream because of her.

( _Except now, crying once again had never seemed less outlandish_.)

-0-

 ** _"WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU SAY THAT?!"_**

Mori jolted from where she was sitting in the wreckage of the house, having been patiently waiting for the humanoid Neighbour to show up.

She tried to respond to the unexpected voice, with even more unexpected words to say. " _Chi_ —?!"

 ** _"No, don't you dare start! I'm still a C-rank agent, we're not a team yet! You're not my captain, I won't accept any orders you give me!"_**

Mori's jaw shut with an audible click, eyes wobbling as she restrained her despair, her sadness, every negative emotion surfacing at this exact moment.

( _I can't deal with this, it hurts it hurts_ ** _it hurts_** —)

 ** _"You're not my captain… S-so why…"_**

Chika's voice shook, and the floodgates nearly tore open along with it. A hint of regret leaked out, causing angry, frustrated tears to well up in Mori's eyes.

 ** _"WHY ARE YOU LEAVING?! You p-promised—!"_**

Chika's tone steeled again, the urge to cry ultimately losing the battle as she continued to scream.

 ** _"—You promised we'd be a team! You hate making promises, you hate it with a passion! So when I heard you tell me that You and Yuma would bring us to A-rank, I didn't have a single doubt that you two would make it possible! So why are you giving up before we've barely left the starting line?!"_**

Mori grit her teeth, tears slowly sliding down her cheeks as she directed her gaze at the floor. " _Chika_ , I'm not—!"

 ** _"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"_**

Replica was silent as he set himself down beside Mori's hand, silently offering comfort.

Mori accepted it. Because that was all she needed, someone who understood what she was trying to do without judging her for her stupidity.

( _I know it's dumb. I know I'm a moron, but_ ** _god_** _, I've never felt more alive than when I heard the announcement that told me Chika was definitely safe_.)

 ** _"I thought you knew!"_** Chika went on, years of untold thought spilling out in a single instant.

( _Mori, you taught me so much. You were my sister, I love you, you're my role model, my world_ —)

 ** _"I thought you knew what it was like—!"_**

(You taught me to speak up when I want to be heard so badly that I can feel my frustration bubbling over.)

 ** _"—To be left behind, to be said goodbye to so halfheartedly, to want nothing more than to hate the person that you once, and STILL love like family!"_**

( _You told me that sometimes, I need to set my calmness, my ability to be soft-spoken aside to get my point across. To use harsh words, to cut deep into the issue so badly that sometimes it'll hurt. You told me to love who I was, to care about myself, to never lower myself to be less than others, because you always told me I was so more than that—!_ )

 ** _"I THOUGHT YOU NEVER WANTED TO BE JUST LIKE_ HIM _, BIG SISTER!"_**

" _I-I'm sorry,_ " Mori choked out. " _I-I have t-to go—_ "

The communications line shut off with a click, and Chika's legs went limp as she fell to the floor, eyes not daring to release the years of restrained tears and sadness, even as a muffled scream made it through the hands she pressed to her face.

(— _You never followed your own advice. Regardless of all my efforts, you still consider yourself worth less than I always knew you were._ )

-0-

"…Mori, I apologize," Replica began softly. "But we must get moving. The Neighbour is almost here."

Mori brushed her arm against her red eyes harshly, scrubbing away the tears. "Don't have anything to apologize 'bout. You did as I asked."

Replica hummed, tongue sticking out as he tapped the first cube in her grasp. "You should put Izumi-san down."

"Yeah," She mumbled sticking the Trion cube underneath some nearby rubble and covering it with a rock. "Could you…?"

"You don't need to ask." Replica opened his mouth. " _Omit_."

The familiar seal appeared, hovering softly over the single lone cube now surrounded by cement bricks and debris.

"They won't find it, even if their ship has a Trion scanner," Replica commented, tongue pushing the last rock to cover the cube. "He'll be safe there until the invasion is over, I've sent the exact coordinates to HQ."

"Thank you." She mumbled quietly and flatly. "Thanks for _everything_ you've done this invasion Replica… You've been so much help."

"It's what I'm for," He responded, voice unusually soft. "…When this is all over, I believe it would be better for you to talk to someone about this. You're under a lot of emotional—"

"I'm _fine_ ," She cut him off. " _I don't_ —"

A deep, shuddering breath. "…Maybe after this is all over. _If I can._ "

"I will be available for you to talk to after the invasion," He coaxed. "You _need_ to get this out, it's not healthy."

"Yeah." Mori opened her dull eyes, the second cube in hand as she stood up. "… _After_ all of this."

The nearby wall blew up, rocks of stone and concrete flying outwards and barely missing Mori and Replica.

Hairein stepped through the wall, brushing the dust off of his cloak nonchalantly as his eyes slowly caught the glowing cube in her hand.

Mori couldn't help but notice his previously shot at limbs were perfectly intact. ( _A function of his Trigger, no doubt. Damn overpowered black Triggers._ )

" ** _I see_** ," He murmured, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. "So I did get one of you with my last attack. I saw the other one with the spear go the other way, so that in your hand… must be the golden egg, or the shooter from before." He tilted his head. "You seemed to have an emotional attachment to the golden egg however, so that must be it."

 ** _"Duck!"_**

 ** _I grabbed Chika and covered her and the cube in my hands with my body as I pushed her to the ground in response to the yell. I could see Yoneya dropping to the ground in a similar fashion a little further away from us as glowing birds flew from over the roof of a nearby house and just barely missed us. They dissipated once they hit the wall of a nearby house, though the barrage of luminescent animals didn't cease._**

 ** _One of the birds barely grazed my arm, and I shot a small, hastily created Meteora to blast the limb off as a cube fell to the ground uselessly._**

Mori lifted her free hand and formed a Meteora, both arms having been regenerated when she created a new Trion body with Chika's Trigger.

"You're not getting her," Mori responded with steel in her voice. "I'll protect her 'till my dying breath, bastard."

( _It's not like it's a lie. She's already in safe hands._ )

Hairein's eyes narrowed, birds raising in the air around them as her glared at her. "Then die. Unlike the others, your worth is non-existent."

( _You'll_ ** _never_** _get her_.)

-0-

"This is **_really_** starting to piss me off…" Enedora growled, lashing out with another spike as Konami launched another Meteora at him from afar.

" _Get in line!_ " She yelled back, shared hearing with Kikuchihara letting her hear his remark. "Why don't you just _drop dead_?!"

 ** _"Konami, are you ok?"_** Mikami asked worriedly, being the only operator on the line at the moment. **_"You've been awfully… aggravated since the Bail out."_**

"Of course I am!" She hissed lowly, twirling Sogetsu around and allowing them to smoothly separate into the two hatchets to conserve Trion. " _Mori just went and—!_ " She trailed off into a slight growl. "And no word from Shiori _or_ Chika since that argument! Not to mention, this guy just _won't_ ** _DIE_** _!_ "

"… _Jeez_ ," Kikuchihara breathed from his spot across the battlefield. "…The Bail out wasn't actually a bad idea. Although it puts her in much more danger than ever before, for the sake of the C-rank, _it was the smartest idea_ …"

He trailed off and let his voice lower enough that Konami wouldn't pay attention to him in her rage, lest she cut his head off.

( _I think Kikuchihara has had enough of getting his head cut off._ )

"You sayin' it's irritating that **_I_** WON'T DROP DEAD?!" Enedora responded just as angrily. " _What about you two small fry?!_ All of the jumping around is _irritating_ _as fuck_ , and not to mention how _mad the_ ** _bitch_** _is_ —" He was cut off by a faint, barely heard irate voice from the circular window hovering beside his ear, the noise loud and close enough to his ear that it made the Neighbour wince. "—The bastard _Hairein's_ getting all worked up too, **_all because of you Meeden small fry!_** "

"Call me small fry **_ONE MORE TIME!_** " Konami yelled, nerves finally getting to her and she appeared in front of him in the flash, slamming her Sogetsu axe into the ground where he had been.

He jumped back in a flash and attempted to strike back at her, but Kikuchihara slashed eerily close to his Trion supply system, forcing him to abort the gesture and block the Scorpion blades.

Konami lifted the Sogetsu from the ground in an instant, waving it around much quicker than her size would usually indicate she could, and aimed the slice to cut him directly in half.

Enedora growled, and a black spike emerged from the ground and stabbed into one of her arms. "Oh, _would you—?!_ "

All of a sudden, the three combatants were overcome with a terrible, crawling emotion that they couldn't shake.

It caused Kikuchihara to unintentionally step back, Konami to freeze directly where she was, and Enedora's mismatched eyes to widen in shock.

( _No, it wasn't shock. No matter how much everyone in the vicinity would deny it… the emotion they were overcome with, undoubtedly, was_ …)

A shoe 'clacked' lightly against a nearby piece of road, the first sound Kikuchihara could hear that indicated the newcomer's arrival whatsoever.

(… ** _Fear_**.)

"Ah, not here… _huh_?"

One slice, and Enedora was cleaved in half.

The sudden attack snapped everyone out of their dazes and the black-haired Neighbour scowled angrily, slightly fearfully as he attempted to reshape himself. " _Nice try_ , but—!"

He cut off with a choke, as the liquid substance making up his body stuttered in the air, coming to a halt and spastically twitching in the air.

" _W-what_ …" He growled. " ** _WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!_** "

His body twitched violently once again, the liquid around his Trion supply system revealing a not-quite-deep-enough cut in the object for just a moment.

"Sorry, but you're in the way." The figure gave his clipped apology. " _I have other places to be._ "

Their hand twitched towards their sword, but Konami had already moved to cleave Enedora in half before they could move.

She faced the figure with a slightly confused frown, Enedora behind her collapsing to the ground as his Trion body was destroyed.

The figure paused, hand already grasping their sword as they gave a short glance to Konami.

She only scowled at them, axe twirling in her hand before she separated them into her two original Sogetsu. "…I didn't want you taking our opponent, I **_already_** had him handled."

The figure gave a clipped, unnerving grin to her that was familiar, yet unnerving at the same time.

-0-

Shinoda caught his breath first.

"What are you doing over there?! Y _ou were supposed to be—!_ " He cut himself off, waiting agitatedly for a reply.

There was a long silence, before the figure spoke up in a mumble again, but it wasn't the response or reasoning that the directors were hoping for.

 ** _"Hm… definitely not here."_**

They jumped off without another word.

Shinoda scowled, and the disappearance of the bone-chilling stare caused Konami, Kikuchihara, Kinuta and Netsuki to let out deep breaths.

The owner of said stare, however, was still roaming free around the map.

-0-

 ** _"Agent Konami, agent Kikuchihara, retrieve the black Trigger and bring it to HQ before going east to cover their previous position!"_** Came Shinoda's order from the communicator, spurring everyone mentioned to begin moving again.

" _Shinoda-sa—!_ " Konami began to object, but Kikuchihara only shook his head tensely as he stepped towards the crouching form of the flesh-and-blood Enedora.

"Don't argue about it," He muttered, watching Enedora lift his head with a scalding glare. "Let's just do as we're told, _that guy_ … didn't look happy. I'm sincerely _amazed_ you could stand talking to him."

-0-

"Mira?" Ranbanein asked curiously. "Aren't you going to retrieve Borboros? Captain's orders, you know?"

Said Neighbour was nearly frozen in her seat, eyes wide as she stared at the screen in front of her in fear. Her hands were barely shaking, but she only snapped out of it once she noticed the two Border agents already beside Enedora, who was growling and glancing around angrily.

"T-They're already recovering him and the black Trigger, I have _no chance_ of getting close." She recovered her composure, trying to ignore the shocked stare from the other Neighbour on the ship. "Captain Hairein, what's the next course of action?"

There was a tense pause, before the small window she had been keeping up beside Hairein finally emitted sound other than that of the chaos around him.

 ** _"If you can't retrieve Borboros…"_** Hairein began darkly. **_"…Then settle for killing him. He may turn on us the moment he's aware we've betrayed him, kill him so that Meeden cannot use the information he possesses."_**

"... And Borboros?" She asked.

Hairein waited for another moment before his voice gained more aggravation as he spoke once more. ** _"I suppose there's no other choice. Leave it with Meeden, we can retrieve it another time."_**

"Yes, sir." She obliged, beginning to open portals near Enedora to stab him before the Border agents could begin to drag him away.

-0-

"From the left."

Mori ducked under a bird.

"Above and right."

She threw herself to the side, narrowly evading another bird.

"At your feet."

She leapt over the lizards positioned on the ground.

Everything she couldn't see with her own eyes, Replica would catch for her.

Hairein's eyes were continuously narrowing further and further, more and more animals pouring out of Alektor as he grew more aggravated with the situation.

It didn't help that Mira had been too late to retrieve Borboros, and now they had to leave a black Trigger behind with Meeden.

"Why won't you just _die_?" He finally bit out irately, another bird making it so close to her hand, but not close enough to do any damage.

" _Because_ I have someone I need to protect," Mori responded blandly, although a hint of irritation had made its way into her tone. "Not like someone like _you'd_ understand, huh?"

Hairein's eyes flashed angrily and for a brief moment, he lifted his hand holding the Alektor egg. " _I think it's about time_ —"

" **Hey**."

It was so sudden.

But that one word, so many emotions poured into that one greeting yet leaving the tone so blank…

All of the birds in the area stopped, freezing in the air where they were. Mori, Replica and Hairein were no better, all three of them not daring to move an inch from where they were, save for the movement of slowly twisting their heads to the figure standing nonchalantly at the peak of a nearby house.

Eyes cold as he looked down on the three of them, barely scanning the area as he finally made eye contact with the Neighbour leader.

" **Neighbour** ," Tachikawa greeted, none of his usual playfulness in battle present as his hands made their way down to both of his swords. " ** _Where's_ _my_ _shooter_?**"

Hairein's eyes widened, and Mori had to remind herself how to breathe as both swords were drawn from their sheaths.

" **…Senkuu _Kogetsu_.**"

The buildings, the road, everything around them… shattered.

-0-

Mori used the distraction to slip away.

It was chaotic, those few moments as the building collapsed around them, Tachikawa launching himself at Hairein with a dangerous gleam in his eyes as he drew both swords.

Hairein's eyes took everything in as he decided between chasing after the 'golden egg', or fighting for his own survival.

The decision was made for him, as he desperately commanded more birds to form a pseudo shield between the No. 1 attacker and himself, every glowing animal protecting him only buying milliseconds at most.

" ** _Mira_** ," Hairein growled into the portal hovering beside his ear, hand waving in the air to take control of Alektor's animals better. "You want to make up for the loss of Borboros? _I have a new mission for you_."

-0-

"Replica, what do we do now?"

Mori was still a little light-headed from fear, but she still needed to move.

Replica hummed, just a tad impatiently as he thought to himself, "…We need to find some way to get the Neighbours to leave."

"Like, _negotiating_?" Mori asked blandly. "With the **_Neighbours_**?"

"Like finding their means of escape, and forcing them into action." Replica corrected patiently.

( _He was well aware of how erratic Mori's mental state was at the moment. She was stressed from all of the fighting, worn out from all her worry for Chika, still feeling the aftershocks of the fear of Tachikawa not even a moment ago, and loneliness because other than Replica, she was all alone. He had to be patient_.)

"I'm still listening to the HQ's communications line, and due to that being my own outside influence… They have no visible indication that I am still connected." He commented shortly. "Over with Konami and Kikuchihara, another black Trigger revealed herself and killed the Neighbour they had been fighting. Judging by how she finished him off, it is highly probable that her Trigger is a wormhole opening type."

" _Interesting_ ," Mori muttered distractedly. "What about it?"

"They must have a ship to have gotten here," Replica commented, releasing multiple mini-Replica's. "Should we find it, I can hack it in seconds and force them to leave."

"Alright, but it's not like they'll just show us where they're hiding it," Mori turned another corner, cube still tightly held in her grip. "For now, _let's_ —"

Replica's form jolted in the air. " _Mori_!"

A spike pierced through the air, stabbing straight through the side of her head.

Mori's eyes blinked in startled shock, just before the Trion body around her collapsed to nothing.

"Meeden…" Mira started lowly, heels ' _clack_ 'ing again the concrete ground as she stepped out of her own portal.

Mori coughed and scrambled to her feet, making a short run away from Mira's position as she stared at the Neighbour in slight fear. Her flesh-and-blood body was starting to feel the strain of the entire afternoon's worth of running and fighting.

"… _We will retrieve the golden egg_." Mira gave her clipped comment, hands raising as multiple portals opened in the air around her, lances emerging from the black holes. " ** _Without fail._** "

' _It's too late already_ ,' Mori chuckled dryly in the safety of her own mind. ' _We've already won, can't you see?_ '

-0-

Hairein finally managed to buy himself enough time to retreat just far enough away that he was out of Tachikawa's range.

Black clouds of Trion leaked from small cuts littering his body, save for one dangerously large slice making its way along the arm he had just regenerated after Replica, Chika and Mori attacked him.

Tachikawa was standing still, watching and waiting for the Neighbour to make the first move with his unnerving stare of his, swords loose in his grip.

"…Are you just going to stand there all day?" He finally spoke up, tone as bland as it had been since his first arrival. "Or are you going to finally answer my question? Because as much as I'd hate to pass up fighting a black Trigger… **_My team comes first._** "

" _Are you a moron or something?_ "

Tachikawa's eyes barely glanced back to the new figure behind him, although Hairein regarded the newcomer warily.

( _Hairein would probably never underestimate a Meeden soldier again, after this experience._ )

"Why're you calling me a moron, **_Miwa_**?" Tachikawa asked, not even a sliver of amusement making it into his voice. "Don't think I did anything to warrant _that_."

Miwa frowned, his own sword loose in his grasp as his eyes briefly flickered towards the Neighbour. "You obviously turned your damn communicator off. HQ confirmed where Izumi is earlier, _he's fine for now_. Why the hell did you leave your post?"

Tachikawa hummed, a line of tension slowly, unknowingly bleeding out of his frame. "… _So he's fine_. That's good."

Miwa's frown grew, and he finally clicked his tongue in impatience. "So, what the hell are you doing? Are you going to take down the fucking Neighbour, or just stand there **_angsting_**?"

Tachikawa let out a huff of amusement, at last, starting to act normal once again. " _Angsting_? Is _that_ what I'm doing?"

There was an elongated pause. "I'll deal with this guy. There was a C-rank here earlier though… I dunno, _I wasn't paying attention_. She ran away earlier, I think the Neighbours were targeting her."

Miwa scowled in irritation. "…Are you _seriously_ asking me to go after her?"

Tachikawa shrugged. "I mean, _I guess_ you could meet up with Yoneya, _wherever he is_ … did he Bail out yet?"

Miwa sighed aggravatedly, hand slamming the Kogetsu into his sheath angrily as he finally left. "You really weren't listening to a damn thing HQ was saying."

Tachikawa gave a lazy wave over his shoulder, other hand coming up to tap the communicator in his ear. **_"…Ren, Miwa…Tell me if you find Izumi, please."_**

Tachikawa's childhood friend, Tsukimi Ren, sighed over the communicator. **_"Stop angsting then."_**

-0-

Another spike grazed the side of Mori's torso, and she let out a pained hiss through her teeth as she turned another corner to get away from the Neighbour.

Replica hovered in the air beside her worriedly, diving down to inspect her wound. "Mori, you're—"

"I'm **_fine_**." She bit out, adjusting the cube in her grasp to hold with her other hand. "Let's keep running, _my legs can still run_."

Replica was silent.

-0-

"I'd say you're just about finished." Tachikawa nonchalantly commented, swords tapping against the ground as he stepped closer, but not too close to Hairein. "Judging by how much Trion is leaking out, you're nearly out."

Hairein glared up at the No. 1 attacker, eyes already having scanned the area for any nearby cubes. ' _There's nothing around to steal Trion from… I can't heal my wounds_.'

" _Hey_ , I'm not blind, you know." Tachikawa commented. "Stop looking around, there's no way out. According to Miwa, Izumi's safe, but I still feel _really_ mad…"

He sighed, one hand raising to the back of his head to scratch it sheepishly. "Man, Shinoda-san and Kido-san're gonna chew me out big time for this… Might as well bring you in, _maybe they'll let it slide then_."

Tachikawa took a step towards the Neighbour, who gave a sharp glare to the Border agent.

( _How the tables have turned_.)

" **Mira** , teleport me," Hairein muttered quickly, eyes flickering backwards as the dark gate opened behind himself on command.

He only waited a moment to give the wide-eyed Tachikawa a slightly triumphant glance, before stepping back and disappearing.

Tachikawa staying in place for just a few more seconds, before he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Well… _Shit_. I lost him."

-0-

"Give up." Mira finally snapped, heels stepping harshly into the ground as she finally cornered Mori into an alleyway. "Hand over the golden egg, or else the consequences will be severe."

"I'm already kind of bleeding to death, _lady_." Mori bit out, pushing off of the back wall she was leaning on. " _You're not getting Chika,_ ** _fuck off._** "

Mira's eyes narrowed. " _So you choose death._ "

A snap from behind Mira.

" **Fujin _, activate._** "

Both Mori and Mira's eyes widened, and Mira barely had the time to turn halfway around before blades of light struck from both sides of the alleyway walls, cutting off one of Mira's outstretched hands, cutting deep into one of her legs to the point where it was unusable, and making two thin cuts on both her cheek and neck, just barely skimming the area where her Trion body's relay system was.

"The only one dying here… **_will be you_**."

Mira coughed harshly, remaining usable leg nearly buckling under her own body's weight. She glared up hatefully at Miwa, who was standing at the edge of the alleyway with a glare even more poisonous than her own.

The A-rank agent only scoffed, glowing Fujin blade at his side and illuminating the area. "Give up, **_Neighbour_**. _We've already won_."

Mira swiped a hand over her cheek, blocking the Trion flow for a moment. "If that's what you think…" She commented in a clipped manner, portal hovering over her ear relaying Hairein's message as she lifted her hand one final time. "Then _how about_ ** _this_**?"

Hairein was instantly teleported behind Miwa, who swiped Fujin behind himself to attack Hairein.

The Neighbour only lifted Alektor however, two small birds blocking the blades of light without much effort as two cubes clattered to the ground.

" ** _Mira_** ," Hairein growled, just as Alektor reached for the cubes and began healing what few of his numerous wounds it could. " _Finish him off._ "

"Yes, commander!" She obliged, lashing out with a lance, but Miwa was quicker.

"Do you _honestly_ think I'm _that slow_?" He growled, lifting Fujin as he reloaded the ribbons, nearly half a dozen more forming around the hilt. " ** _Don't mock me._** "

Mira's eyes flickered uncertainly before she narrowed them challengingly. " _You're not our_ ** _target_** , regardless."

Mori, who was still trapped in the furthest point of the alleyway, jolted and began to run, but—

Three lances, and a hiss of pain as they pierced through her.

( _Two in the torso, one in the leg, ow, ow, ow,_ ** _ow—shit_ —**)

They retracted just as quickly, and Mori fell to the ground uselessly as the cube clattered out of her grasp, landing a few meters in front of her.

Miwa's eyes lingered on her fallen form for just a second too long, and before long, 2 other lances had appeared from just behind him.

They stabbed directly through his torso, one missing and making a jagged stab through his shoulder, and the other piercing right through his Trion supply system.

His eyes widened as his pupils slowly lowered to the wound, Trion body slowly deconstructing before his eyes as he reverted back to his flesh-and-blood body.

"… _Hmph_." Mira sniffed, watching him with scorn in her eyes as Hairein walked past her to retrieve the cube. "Don't try anything, or you'll be _dead_ in _seconds_."

Miwa grit his teeth, hand slowly slipping Fujin in his pocket as he watched Hairein slowly step towards the Trion cube in front of Mori's unconscious body.

Hairein finally reached the cube at his feet, turning back to Mira for a brief moment as he bent down to reach for it. "Open a gate back to the ship. _We'll be leaving in a moment_."

Mira nodded, a portal opening behind her almost absentmindedly as she waited for her captain.

The Neighbour himself finally held the cube in his grasp, flipping the geometric shape over in his hands contemplatively, before he froze.

Mira noticed immediately, taking another step towards him. "Captain? _What is it_?"

"…This _isn't_ the **golden egg**." He finally growled, narrowed eyes making their way to the only conscious human in the area… Miwa. " ** _What is the meaning of this_**?"

Miwa's furious expression never shook, although the hint of smugness was unmistakable. " _Seems like you couldn't get what you came here for._ ** _Shame_**."

Mira's eyes widened in rage, and her hand lashed out in frustration as another lance stabbed in his flesh-and-blood body this time, red liquid splattering against the nearby wall as he coughed harshly.

He didn't scream however, as the lance retreated just as harshly as it had gone in. He only stayed standing, hands rising to clutch his bleeding stomach with grit teeth.

Hairein threw the cube to the ground, face never wavering from its mask of cold fury. " _I see._ ** _A smart tactic_**."

He lifted Alektor once again, preparing to leave the alleyway and head to Border HQ. "However, we are in no hurry, _as long as we achieve our objective._ Mira, **prepare to teleport us to their main base**."

Miwa eye's widened in shock, and he prepared to step forward just before a robotic voice spoke up in the startlingly dark alleyway.

"It's come to my understanding… _that you have **run out of time**_."

All three of the alleyway occupants spun around on their heels ( _albeit Miwa was slower, as his wounds were much graver than he let on_ ) wide eyes finally landing on the hovering figure at the entrance of the alleyway…

Right in front of the portal to the Neighbour ship.

Replica retracted his tongue-like appendage, control panel for the ship beeping alarmingly as he turned to face them. "…You left your transport vessel wide open to attack. **_Shame_**."

Already consumed with anger, Mira lashed out with another spear quicker than anyone could move. Replica fell to the ground, being cleaved in half by the unusually thin weapon as Mira ran to the ship's control panel.

" ** _Mira_**." Hairein growled, reaching the end of his rope. " ** _What's the status_**."

Mira grit her teeth in frustration, hands deftly taping out something on the keyboard as her eyes scanned the screen at inhuman speeds. "A return home command has been issued! _Only 60 seconds_ until emergency launch… **_I can't cancel the command_**!"

Miwa smirked, finally falling to his knees as he clutched at his bleeding stomach.

( _Suck on_ ** _that_** _, Neighbours._ )

Hairein's eyes narrowed into a dark glare that sent shivers down Mira's spine.

"We…" She choked out in slight fear, never having seen Hairein so upset. " _We_ ** _don't_** _have enough time to search for the golden egg._ "

-0-

"… ** _We have no choice_**." The Neighbour finally muttered. " ** _We will give up on the golden egg… You recovered Viza not too long ago, didn't you?_** "

" ** _Yes commander_**." The female Neighbour replied hurriedly. " ** _About Hyuse…?_** "

" ** _According to plan._** " The Neighbour gave his clipped response. " ** _We couldn't capture the golden egg, so he's left behind. Prepare to leave._** "

( _Thank god…_ ** _Chika's safe_**.)

"…Mori." Came the familiar robotic voice from the mini-Replica I still had in my pocket.

( _I'd kept it there since the first time Yuma and replica gave it to me. It's never left my side._ )

"I'm sorry," He apologized, and I couldn't get out a response through the blood in my mouth. "I wish I could move, maybe I should have moved out of the portal before I began to mock them."

There was a small pause.

"I suppose you rubbed off on me as well. Mori, you…"

( _I'm so sorry, I should've stopped you from sacrificing yourself… I should've been strong enough._ )

I could barely hear the sound of the portal beginning to close as Replica gave me his last statement.

( _I swear. I promise… Just please, please don't leave us_.)

"…You matter much more to others than you believe. I have no doubt you will live through this… Please, take care of Yuma, Chika… and yourself."

(… _Come back_ ….)

A muffled zap that barely made it through the white noise in my ears, and the Neighbours, along with Replica, were gone.

-0-

Miwa was perfectly content with laying down and waiting for reinforcements to come to find them.

( _Except for the fact that he was currently bleeding quite heavily out of his severe stomach wound… Hopefully, reinforcements were quick, or else he might actually die._ )

So why was he doing what he was currently doing?

"… _For_ ** _fuck's_** _sake,_ " He mumbled under his breath, finally moving both arms to lift himself up.

"… _W-what_ ," A cough, and a spit. "What are y-you doing…?"

"Oh, you're still awake." He grumbled, dragging himself over to her body. "Why aren't you moving then?"

She twisted her head slightly, just enough so that Miwa could see one of her dull eyes. "…' _hurts_."

" ** _I'd imagine_**." He huffed, grabbing the edge of her body and flipping her over on her back. She let out a pained hiss escape through her clenched teeth, but Miwa only continued to move her towards the nearest wall. " _But I'm certain this is all your fault._ "

" _Shut_ '." She slurred, and it was startlingly clear to Miwa how much blood she had lost as he felt it soak into his pant legs. "What do _y_ ' _know_?"

"What _I_ know," Miwa cut in sharply, **_angrily_** , " _Is that you have a goddamn_ ** _little sibling_** _that you're leaving behind._ "

" _Was_ ," Mori coughed again, the blood splatters on her uniform becoming an even deeper red as it dripped from her lips. " _Protecting her_."

" ** _Protecting_** her?" Miwa repeated with even more anger, pressing his lips together to silence another wave of anger to avoid agitating his wounds. " _Did you ever consider that she maybe wanted to fight alongside you?!_ ** _That she didn't want you to leave her behind if it meant you'd die?!_** "

( _Ouch, yeah, he didn't want to yell again. That_ ** _stung_**.)

Mori's eyelids twitched, less in anger and more over the loss of control over her own body. "… _Leav' me 'lone._ "

Miwa huffed and flipped over, finally giving into the pain as his back harshly landed on the wall a meter and a half away from her. "HQ will send reinforcements to us soon. If not them, _then that bastard Tachikawa will find us_. He was the one supposed to be fighting that Neighbour bastard, anyway."

Mori blinked, her disoriented state of mind already getting whiplash from the topic change. "… _Huh_."

Miwa sighed aggravated, falling silent as he stared up at the sky peeking in between the two buildings they were wedged between.

"…The sky finally cleared up."

 **( _The large-scale invasion… has officially come to an end_.)**

-0-

Meeden was strange, but Yuma always had a feeling that this entire experience would be strange.

It was where dad had come from, it'd be weirder if it wasn't weird.

…And wasn't _that_ a concept.

It had all begun, with one person though. It was just one person that had stood up and been tasked with escorting Yuma, although reluctantly.

It had all begun, with _Mikumo Mori._

She was strange.

… _Where to begin_?

His first thought of her. She was weak, yet not. She had a cynical outlook on how the school handled the victims of, and the bullies that tried bothering him, an outlook that he only somewhat shared. Her classmates obviously didn't have too high an option of her, and yet every person that she seemed to interact with ( _bar the asshole bullies_ ) seemed to treat her indifferently. Like a distant stranger that you knew virtually nothing about. Then, she had insisted on following him when the asshole bullies tried leading him into the emergence zone after school.

That was dumb, in his opinion.

But she had dodged, and no matter how little that seemed in comparison to everything that had happened that day, it stuck out to him.

She had practised, it was clear. Her eyes whipped around at a speed that surprised him, and she still managed to drink in all of the visual information like it was nothing. Her dodges were obviously something self-taught, not at all polished by personal experience, yet still honed with the fine art of practice.

Then, the Bamster had shown up before he could have enough time to ponder that.

That was an experience. She ran right into battle, despite knowing it was dumb and wouldn't do anything. She had made that very clear, with her final words before the Trion soldier knocked her through a brick wall.

 ** _"It's cause I'm a moron!"_**

Moron indeed.

He still doesn't know why he used his black Trigger to save her, he still didn't have too high an opinion of her at that time. She bruised her ribs because of her foolish action, but still owned up to it. Still didn't impress him much, so why'd he stick around?

He told her why he was here, because why not? She denied literally half the things he said, and complained a bit before conceding to his demands; 'teach me about Japan'.

It was simple. It was supposed to be a simple, temporary agreement.

( _It wasn't_ )

Then she starts making up rules that he didn't exactly agree with. ' _Don't stand out'_ , ' _Don't use your Trigger_ '… what's next, ' _Don't breathe_ '?

Replica concurred with her rules though, so he reluctantly agreed. Then, he found the hidden side of her that wanted to see the bullies get what they deserve when he offered to beat them up. That was a pleasant surprise.

She was completely unexpected as a whole, honestly. While he was expecting her to be mocking at times, she was nagging instead. When he was sure she'd be strict and snobby, she was awkward and kind. When he thought she'd lecture him for doing something wrong, she simply muffled a snort and reluctantly told him to knock it off.

Then, once again, Neighbours attacked. Marmods this time though.

And without another word, she rushed into danger.

For a moment, for god-knows-what-reason, he had internally panicked at the thought of reaching the top of the stairs only too see her dead corpse, but instead, she was skillfully fighting the Marmods off with a trainee Border weapon she stole from a nearby, unconscious teen.

He felt a surge of panic when she nearly got her head chopped off, but mangled to save her with a hastily created shield.

( _He just doesn't know why he reacted like this. He barely even knew her, compared to what other things he's seen from her in the months to follow._ )

She'd shaken off her panic and gave him a grin, one that he couldn't help but return with his own. Along with a promise to start using her own name, instead of calling her something else.

 ** _"We don't make a bad team… You should have your own Trion soldier to fight next time though."_**

 ** _"Maybe. And I'm sorry for underestimating you, four-eye— no, Mori. Those were some amazing moves."_**

Then Replica had come out. Those few days felt like one thing after another, and Replica had not come out to greet anyone that he met since he was back in Calvaria.

The Trion soldier even agreed to answer any questions she had. It was a shock, but he stayed surprisingly quiet as the questioning followed.

They carried the C-rank out of the building, along with a new type of friendship bonding the two of them together.

Of course, just in time for Kitora to show up.

He _hated_ her.

She was stand-offish, jealous of Mori, and he saw another unexpected side of his friend when Kitora made her first insult to her. This side, however, wasn't nearly as pleasant when he watched her wilt like a flower in the sun under Kitora's harsh scrutiny.

Replica quietly teased him for a bit after the incident, but he still thought he was justified in lashing out harshly following Kitora's insults.

Mori was incredibly susceptible to insults. It almost saddened him, since he had gained a new respect for his bespectacled friend after seeing her fight off the Marmods with the Trigger. Regardless, he fought back against Kitora whenever she tried to attack Mori again with her words, and the girl eventually stopped the pointless attacks on his friend as they walked along the sidewalk.

Then the Illgar. _Yuma was starting to get the idea that Neighbours insisted on interrupting any progress he was starting to make with Mori_ , but anyways.

Kitora jumped off, and Mori insisted he follow the A-rank agent. He felt an objection rising in his throat, but the expression on her face and her argument caused him to reluctantly oblige to her demands.

What the hell is with this girl. She doesn't even realize how quickly she platonically wrapped him around her finger.

Following that… of course, this was something that changed his perspective of her for the rest of their lives.

 _The Border conference._

Despite him telling her to update him afterwards if anything happened, he decided to just listen in on the entire conference on a whim. It was enlightening, to say the least.

Her outburst against Kitora made him fist-bump the air silently, but he made Replica _promise_ not to tell anyone that.

Her refusal to join Border however, lit up a few bulbs in his head, but he shoved them aside for the moment. They'd come up eventually, he didn't really care about her reasoning at the time.

Later on, he went to the school to look for Rads. It was mostly Replica's idea, but he had a similar thought to him, so he went along too.

They called Mori, her antagonization towards Jin was made clear, and she offered to go over there and join them looking for Trion soldiers.

 _Uh,_ ** _no_** _. Go back to bed Mori,_ ** _what the hell_** _._

She thankfully conceded to his order quickly, and Replica took slight amusement in his heavy sigh of relief as the sound of her head hitting the pillow echoed over the communications line.

They met Jin, cleared out the Rads, and what followed was a rollercoaster as he met Chika, learned of Mori's reasoning to not join Border, fighting Miwa and Yoneya, being ordered by Mori for Chika and him to have lunch…

It was a _mess_.

Then Jin invited them to Tamakoma, learned about Mogami's fate, and joined Border in the end. But most of that was small compared to what else had happened.

 _… Mori really didn't care too much about herself._

It was startlingly obvious to him, a hidden self-loathing woven in between each and every one of her words, an emotion so deep that Yuma struggled to pinpoint how long it had been festering for.

Maybe under other circumstances, it would've disappointed him.

But no, he couldn't help but be amazed.

Mori had been struggling with this for such a long time, and not broken… he was proud of how far she'd come. He imagined he had Chika and any family Mori had to thank for her progress, but that didn't matter.

He'd be the one to continue making progress, to lift up her self-esteem, to snap her out of it when she was bending under the force of someone else's insults. He wanted to walk beside her for that. To walk beside both her and Chika, to bring all three of them to the finish line.

The finish line, _which would be the No. 1 spot in Border._

( _She didn't understand that, but that was fine. He'd carry them there regardless, and he knew she'd never let him down for that either._ )

So he agreed to be on their team, and the three of them made an agreement that day to never let each other down.

Mori was funny too, he found. She froze up at the names of the current No. 1 squad members, and he was worried for a moment that she'd stopped breathing as they watched different clips of the Border agents. **_Pure_** _nervousness_.

(… _Opponents. Possible allies…? Depends on how HQ reacts to their enlistment_.)

Mori was also smart at times. She could come to unique conclusions that Yuma had to twist his brain to get around, even though he was more strategic-smarts oriented while she was primarily academic-smarts. it was a strange mix, but it worked. But for all that Mori seemed to be smart at times…

She could be so dumb.

( _A flash of the Bamster smacking her through a wall came to mind, but he batted that away. Not the time._ )

He met Konami, Karasuma, Kizaki, Mori's mother ( _that was a pleasant surprise_ ), and before he knew it, the Border enlistment day finally came.

After a few months, he, Chika and Mori had bonded quite a bit. He finally felt like a team, instead of just an outsider as he fought for his life, only Replica by his side.

( _This wasn't Calvaria, he kept reminding himself. People here, they cared. They were kind, Tamakoma was a family. And Chika and Mori were even closer to him. This wasn't Calvaria. Not in the slightest. He wasn't being forced to fight a war in which he didn't particularly care about the outcome, he chose to fight here. For Mori, Chika, Replica, and himself._ )

It felt good to watch Mori talk back to Kitora and prove her wrong. It felt even better watching Mori fight freely against someone else at Border, someone else that recognized Mori's talent for what it was.

( _He didn't like how he worded some of his comments, but Kikuchihara had honest and good intentions. No one else around seemed to understand, although Yuma had seen a glimmer of understanding swirling around in pools of red from the top of the seating areas. Kazama Soya, No. 2 attacker, huh?_ )

They shook up HQ with their opening debut and separated less than two weeks later to wander around the large building.

Then, he saw her once again. But watching, what was so clearly set up, dozens of C-ranks watch Midorikawa beat Mori 20-0…

Well, _that just_ ** _wasn't_** _allowed._

Jin subtly teased him for losing his head, but the embarrassment was _minor_ compared to the white-hot fury he felt when Midorikawa smugly smirked at Mori once their rank battle was over.

He wanted the two of them to feel less crappy after that ordeal, so he goaded her into a challenge to get to B-rank. It was pleasing, watching her fall for the trick even though she knew exactly what he was doing.

And for the last time… _Just when Mori was taking steps forward_ , the Neighbours attacked.

It was huge this time though. There was chaos left and right, and once he noticed the obvious tremors in Mori's hand, he felt a sliver of regret for forgetting her circumstances.

This was Mori's first battle experience where she was fighting for her life, and the battle seemed to never end.

The Bamster? _He took it out instantly, and she didn't even fight that time. Done._

The Marmods? _That was over fairly quickly, and she entered the fight of her own free will._

The Illgar? _Again, she wasn't fighting. She was rescuing people. And despite how much she grumbles and complained, that seems to be when she thrives. Helping others, primarily people she knew and liked though._

This? **_This was war._** She was thrown in instantly, and fighting for her life with barely _any time_ to prepare.

And there was nothing he could do about it, and that _stung_.

They had to split up eventually.

 _Jin later found him and told him that Mori might die while Chika would get captured, and the two of them left to go protect their two friends._

Admittedly, half of the time in the invasion after that was a haze of anger and protectiveness as he blindly fought the black Trigger.

Pride welled up in his chest when Replica gave him a new seal, stating dryly that it was ' _a gift_ ' from Mori.

Replica went quiet near the end of the battle, and he rushed to finish off the black Trigger out of pure worry.

( _What happened to Mori and Chika?_ )

He was in his normal Trion body now, and wouldn't be able to fight if another humanoid Neighbour showed up, but it hardly mattered. With directions from Replica, he rushed through the emergence zone, running past all of the abandoned buildings with a sense of dread that only grew in size as the mini-Replica beside him dropped to the floor, dead to the world.

With his last words stating a clear message, just before he dropped out of the air.

 ** _"Chika's safe, and Mori will be too… I apologize for not doing more."_**

( _He could mourn later._ ** _Replica_** _— Yuma told him to protect Chika and Mori, he did as Yuma asked. He could be weighed down and crushed by guilt_ ** _later_** _, he needed to know what happened to his partners_.)

Then, he finally arrived at his destination.

Blood covered the alleyway. There was nearly no light, although that seemed to slowly improve at the sky cleared up above them.

And at the back of the alleyway, Mori lay. Blood rushing out of a wound just above her stomach, another in her shoulder, a deep graze by her ribs, and the last wound in her thigh.

It was all white noise now.

He barely registered Miwa a few feet away from her, already running towards Mori as he dropped to his knees, blood coating his uniform as he grabbed both of her shoulders desperately.

( _The uniform doesn't_ ** _fucking_** _matter. Ah— jeez… I'm picking up her language now, aren't I._ )

He barely registered the world around him as he pulled Mori to his chest. Her heartbeat was slow, and he could barely feel her breathing.

( _…I'm sorry. Please come back. Promise—Promise you won't leave me_.)

He doesn't know how much time passed after that. Yoneya and Natsume showed up at one point, and with hazy directions from the worried A-rank, the three of them carried the two injured agents to the nearest hospital.

He handed Mori over to the doctors and collapsed in the waiting room chair, other patients bustling noisily around them. The white noise seemed to grow, overpowering everything around him as he barely dared to breathe.

( _Please don't take my family away from me._ ** _Not again_**.)

His Impression of Mori… at first, he thought she was cold. Mocking, irritated easily, and still a stickler for the rules. As well as strict and harsh when she wanted to be.

That's all changed now. Now, she's a _friend_.

Sure, she's cold. _But only if she doesn't know you, and that's only her awkwardness resurfacing_. Yeah, she's mocking at times, _but that's one of the only ways she knows to be casual with you_. She gets irritated at the flip of a dime, _and it's generally amusing for everyone cause we all know she's not_ ** _really_** _mad_. She's far from a stickler for the rules, _but hates meeting higher-ups so she follows said rules to avoid that_.

She's not strict. _She's nagging, like a mother hen_. She's not harsh, _she's blunt_.

…She's not a stranger, or even just a friend. Not even a love interest, the two of them would be **_absolutely_** **_disgusted_** at the thought.

She was family, but not a sister. A best friend, but maybe more.

 ** _She was Mori._**

And for the first time, _Yuma prayed to whoever was up there that they wouldn't take her away from them.'  
_

-0-

A/N -

( _Drops a bunch of angst here_ )

Also, Miwa is seriously underrated in this chapter. Jesus, I am so sorry about that, but with the plans I had, it couldn't fit any other way... whoops.

 _Moving on-_ A review asked very politely for a description of Mori! So just a quick one here, Mori's around the same height as Osamu (168cm, which is _really f-kin tall for a female her height_ ) and has the same green eyes. She has straight, long hair that goes down to her shoulder-blades that she usually keeps in a ponytail or a messy bun. For clothes, she's very basic and sticks with sweaters, usually greys/dark purples. I'm bad with descriptions, but I think that's good...? She looks pretty similar to Osamu and Kasumi face-wise.


	9. Never Let Me Go

A / N -

AN EARLY UPDATE. TO MAKE UP FOR THE LOW QUALITY CHAPTER THAT I CAN'T SEEM TO IMPROVE NO MATTER HOW MNAY TIMES I LOOK IT OVER.

aaaaAAND Another quick thanks to anyone that bothers to follow, favorite, or review! It means the world to me... (And I'm sorry I don't know how to world the reply mechanism thing.) Soooo...

To Fire-Metal-Horse17 - Tachikawa is indeed the creepy stare guy! I think it's seriously underrated how if he lost his naturally easygoing attitude... his eyes would be a lot creepier. And thank you for the compliments, they made my day!

-and to anyone else that wanted a reply to their reviews,,, I'm sorry but I'm awkward,,, I'll ty to respond to reviews when I can, but sometimes It's hard to think of what I want to say if there aren't any questions... BUT _UNTIL NEXT TIME_ , I NEED TO STOP WITH THE OBNOXIOUSLY LONG A/N!

-0-

The hospital walls were blank, _so very blank._

Shiori had very rarely had the pleasure of being familiar with these walls.

The last time had been when she was quite young. Yosuke had been a little too confident on the monkey bars and had broken his leg when he inevitably fell. Of course, Shiori's family have been worried sick when they received a call from his parents, but once they paid Yosuke a visit in the hospital…

He gave them a grin and asked them to sign his cast with a wide grin as he messed around with his phone in the hospital bed. Shiori and Yosuke had been too young to understand the crushing worry, seeing someone they loved in that white hospital bed…

Shiori wishes she never had to know. But she can't turn away as she stares blankly through the glass, Mori pale and hooked up to a dozen different machines with various functions, all present for the bare minimum in keeping her alive.

There were others in the room with her of course. With the number of patients the hospital had received, and Border's wishes to keep Miwa and Mori's injuries as secret as possible due to the A-rank agent's distaste towards the idea of being used as a scapegoat for society's pity…

The two agents, suffice to say, were sharing a room. Miwa was situated in another bed directly across from Mori, being put under with drugs long ago as the doctors bustled around, words such as 'surgery' and 'blood transfusions' being tossed around. Miwa looked far too pale and tired to complain about anything they put him through, and Mori was long gone into the clutches of a coma before Yuma, Natsume and Yosuke had arrived.

 _Long gone._

Yuma was still covered in blood.

Shiori shook herself a bit, mind focusing back on the matter at hand.

After Mori cut off communication, Chika had nearly stolen someone elses Trigger and ran off. Everyone had no doubt she'd be able to keep fighting despite the small dent the Bail out function had put in her Trion reserves, so Reiji and Shiori had to keep her in the operator room as they waited for any news on Mori.

Karasuma barely moved from his place at the door for a long time, uncharacteristically pale as he stared off into space with slightly widened eyes. However, when Shiori turned to him he had hurriedly stepped out while muttering an incoherent excuse as he started down the hall. Shiori didn't blame him, the two of them had gotten surprisingly close to the bespectacled teen in the few months before Border enlistment day. After that first win she pulled off, Shiori was stubbornly adamant in becoming closer to his student.

Still, no one from Tamakoma, Border, anybody… were as close to Mori as Chika and Yuma were.

Oh god, _they_ ** _still_** _weren't talking._

The room everyone was gathered in was separated from Mori and Miwa's hospital room by a thin pane of glass dividing the two. Inside their waiting room, Yosuke, Midorikawa, Yotaro, Karasuma, Reiji, Yuma, Chika, Natsume, and Shiori herself were standing or sitting in various states of disarray across the room.

Yosuke was standing beside Shiori, eyes glazed over as he stared at Miwa sorrowfully, watching his captain's faint breathing through the glass, the oxygen mask placed over Miwa's nose and mouth doing nothing to elevate Yosuke's concerns. Miwa and Yosuke were good friends, Shiori knew. It wasn't just the use of first names that had tipped her off, but the overwhelming fondness Yosuke spoke with whenever he talked about Miwa when describing his day on a regular basis.

Izumi had been found by HQ a few hours ago using the last coordinates they had received from Replica, but still not reverted from his form as a cube. That fact only added to the heaviness in the air as Midorikawa never moved from his spot beside Yosuke, sitting with his back to the wall and not daring to peek through the glass window above his head.

It was far too soon in their lives for any of them to be worrying about if their friends were going to live or not. Shiori wishes she could scream, but the words were lost on her tongue as she simply continued to stare through the glass with teary eyes.

Yotaro was the only one making a sound in the room, quiet as it was. He was sniffling, trying to hide his tears as he shoved his face into the side of Reiji's leg beside him. The latter was staring off into space blankly, hand reaching down softly to pat the side of Yotaro's helmet-covered head almost absentmindedly.

Natsume wasn't too far from him, eyes drawn to the floor sadly as she succumbed to the aura of sadness in the room, barely moving save for the brief, worried glances she continued to send Chika.

Karasuma was leaning against the wall in the corner closest to the door. He flipped the water bottle over in his hand multiple times, only opening it to take a small sip every few minutes. Shiori was quite worried about him in particular with the unnervingly blank look in his eyes, but she could barely keep herself together as it was.

( _Jin hadn't said a word since the end of the invasion. HQ had called him back immediately, and Shiori had too busy with other things to receive any messages from him regarding Mori's well being._ )

It was Yuma and Chika that worried her the most though.

Yuma had been here when they first arrived. Like Natsume and Yosuke, his clothes were bloodstained (more than the other two, you could trick Shiori into thinking Yuma had swam in the red mixture, whereas Yosuke and Natsume only had small splatters and stains where they had been carrying the two injured teens) and his eyes were shadowed by his hair as his head hung low.

As soon as everyone in the operator's room had arrived at the hospital, being free to go as they could do nothing else to help the invasion's cleanup, Chika's eyes met Yuma's, and as if in a silent agreement, they met in the centre of the room, embracing each other as tightly as they dared.

( _Yosuke would later tell her that Yuma had been unresponsive before that. He only moved when his second partner arrived, and Shiori couldn't help but feel the urge to cry as she tried to even begin to imagine the suffering they were going through._ )

Once the entire group had met together, the two let up the hug but grabbed each other's hands with a fragile desperation that broke Shiori's heart.

It had been silent since then, and Chika's eyes were unnervingly blank as she stared through the glass window from across the room, her and Yuma standing against the wall on the other side.

Her hands had stopped shaking hours ago.

Shiori worried. When she would finally burst with all of these feelings, when Chika would finally open up and speak again, when Yuma would stop keeping all of his emotions locked up, when Yosuke would lose the haunted look in his eyes, when Karasuma would stop blankly staring at the wall instead of depending on someone else for once…

When Mori would wake up.

Because that was what everything important hinged on, the survival of one, crucial, moronic, amazing person in their lives.

Yosuke from beside her made the first movement anyone in the room had made for a solid twenty minutes, shaking hand reaching out and looping around her shoulders, pulling her into his arms as his voice shook.

"I'm sorry, Shiori."

His voice cracked, and although he never shed tears of his own, Shiori's heart ached for him.

And Shiori silently cried, because everyone in the room was far too young to have this sort of burden placed on their shoulders.

-0-

A dull splat.

A cry and a scream.

An eerily blank expression.

... What is this feeling? … Am I sad?

Green eyes shifted down and locked on the bloodstained tire track as well the poor kitten that crossed the street at the wrong time.

… I hate it, it's such a terrible feeling… I should've done something more. To save it.

 **"Go away!"**

A slow blink.

 _'What..?'_

 **"No one wants you here! S-She— The cat got run over, and she didn't even blink! She's a freak!"**

 _'What? No…that's not it. I feel sad…'_

But how am I supposed to express that…?

 **"The p-poor cat! She doesn't even care, she's just staring at it like a—!"**

 _'I…'_ The tears won't come. ' _Why…'_

 **"LEAVE US ALONE!"**

 _'Why don't I work properly…? Mom?'_

 **"…Children are cruel. Come home Mori, I… We can do something together, please don't be sad."**

 _'…I… It hurts. Mom, I don't like it. It's like when the cat died. I'm sad, but I can't cry.'_

 **"That's not your fault. Mori, please don't blame yourself for things you can't control."**

-0-

"One of them's regained consciousness, he can have one patient at a time, please stay away from any equipment, _especially on the other side of the room_ …"

The world was unnervingly numb for Miwa.

It had been a blur of pain for him, pulling Mikumo and himself up against the wall, waiting with baited breath for reinforcements to arrive, then…

It was the Neighbour.

Right, the Neighbour trash that had been accepted into the organization that he had put so much faith into.

All thanks to those traitors at Tamakoma. All thanks to Jin.

( _What am I supposed to believe now?_ )

Miwa distantly recalls the Neighbour arriving in the alleyway. He had made a move to try and stand up, but before Miwa could even move… The Neighbour ran over to Mikumo and fell to his knees.

It was baffling, watching the Neighbour reach out and grab her shoulders with so much desperation that…

It the kind of desperation Miwa had seen before.

( _It was the kind of desperation Miwa had_ ** _FELT_** _before._ )

Then, there was pain. Because Mikumo's hair had come free of the messy bun she tied it up in.s As her black hair cascaded down her back and soaked in the blood around her, Miwa was very brutally reminded of a similar scene years before…

The Neighbour… Kuga held Mikumo to his chest with enough pain swirling in his eyes to make Miwa freeze.

( _That scene… was so very similar_. _So_ ** _very_ familiar** _to him._ )

"… _Shuji_ …?"

It was faint, but so startlingly clear at the same time.

Miwa turned his head slowly. Eyes sluggishly shifting to land on the doorway.

"…Yosuke…"

Yoneya shut the door behind him as loudly as he dared, arm brushing over his eyes as he pulled up a chair with a quick smile.

"Shuji, you _really_ scared all of us. D-Don't do that again, you hear me? That was enough of a shock to last me a lifetime…"

Miwa was still for another few moments, before a slow nod came. "… You carried me here."

Yoneya nodded, taking a seat in the small chair. There was a line of tension in his shoulders that was slowly fading, although it never left completely. "The shrimp— _Yuma_ found you guys first. It was a scare, what were you guys doing in the back of an alleyway?"

It was an attempt to try and lighten the mood, Miwa knew. But his hazy mind accidentally latched onto the first part of the sentence.

He blinked lethargically, before lifting himself up shakily, arms half asleep as he pushed up.

" _Whoa_ —" Yoneya jolted, both arms reaching out to stop him. "Miwa, calm down, _lie down_ —!"

Miwa blinked, sienna coloured irises landing on the bed across the room as he came to a halt.

"—Shuji?"

Miwa took one good look at Mikumo, before slowly lowering himself back down to the bed.

Oxygen mask, heart rate monitor, IV drips, bandages, blood bags, dozens of other pieces of equipment that Miwa didn't particularly care for the names of—

"… So she's… Still alive," Miwa commented, voice muffled by the oxygen mask.

"… They think she'll pull through, but she… She looks dead." Yoneya heavily sighed, leaning back in his chair. "I… Don't know how to react to all of this."

Miwa wasn't paying attention though, because only one voice, one sentence was running through his mind. "… Good."

 ** _"I THOUGHT YOU NEVER WANTED TO BE JUST LIKE HIM,_ BIG SISTER _!"_**

'… _Those two are morons_.' Miwa thought with an aggravated huff, exhaustion finally catching up with him as his eyelids lowered. '… _Mikumo needs to apologize to Amatori later, putting her younger sibling through so much worry_.'

-0-

 **"Why are you crying?! It was just a prank!"**

 _'I don't know… The tears just won't stop…'_

 **"She only cries when she doesn't like something! Remember when the cat was run over a few weeks ago…? She didn't even flinch!"**

 _'Ow… It hurts. Not again…'_

 **"Mori, why do you keep trying to be their friend…? They're trying to hurt you."**

 _'I don't know… I don't know, I just don't want to be alone… I don't want them to hate me either, but I just don't work…'_

 **"You ' _work_ ' fine, Mori. You're human, and just because they don't like how you act, doesn't mean it's wrong. Let's go home, I'll make you your favourite fried rice."**

 _'… Thank you, mom.'_

 **"It's no problem. Just… come to me if they try that again, ok? I promise, once you get a little older, I'll let you take the middle school in Mikado. You can have a new start there, people will be nicer. Ok?"**

 _'Ok. I'll wait… I promise, mom.'_

 **"…Thank you for being kind and patient, Mori. Come on, let's go grocery shopping. Do you want shrimp in your fried rice again?"**

 _'Yes, please…'_

-0-

 _Wha…?_

" ** _IZUMI_**!"

 _Wha_ —

"Ow!"

Izumi hissed in surprise, flinching as a heavy weight settled itself across his chest.

"… _What hit me_ …? _What time is it_ …?"

"YOU _MORON_!"

Izumi flinched in shock, just now registering his surroundings.

"Wha—?" He turned his head around confusedly, seeing a few engineers, one of them being Terashima. "What am I doing here?… When did I fall asleep?"

Kunichika ( _Oh, that's what was on my chest, Izumi thought_ ) continued to sob into his shirt, babbling muffled words with mostly insults mixed in as her fists weakly pounded on his cheek.

"… _Tachikawa-san_?" He asked weakly, confused. "What happened?"

The older male was silent with a small smile, and most of the engineers hurriedly ran out of the room, spitting incoherent excuses as they pushed each other out the door. Terashima was the last to leave, giving a lazy wave as he passed by along with a quick mutter of ' _I'll give you guys some time_ '.

Tachikawa leaned against the wall, but as soon as the door shut behind Terashima, he _too,_ launched himself at the shooter.

"Wha— _What_?!" Izumi shrieked, being tackled by both his teammates. " ** _What's happening?!_** "

" _You moron_!" Kunichika yelled (again), arms twisting around his waist. " _I outta murder you!_ "

" ** _WHAT'D I DO?!_** "

"What she means," Tachikawa muttered with a fond grin, both arms latched around his teammates. " _Is that we're glad to have you back_."

-0-

 _'…I'm lost.'_

Shit. Mom told me to stay with her… But I saw free samples…

( ** _Curses_**.)

Where am I…? There's the butcher over there… Then the broccoli guy over there…

 _'… I'm still lost.'_

 _'… Fuck.'_

Wait, calm down Mori. Let's— Don't start crying. You always do that without warning, don't start now. You're fine. You're fine.

Take another deep breath.

Alright. You're good.

Just— take a step forward— turn the corner—

 **"OW!"**

 _'OW.'_

My knees. Christ, fuck, that hurts—!

 **"Chika? Are you ok?"**

There's… Two people.

Oh… I bumped into the little girl.

Oh shit—!? She's crying—!

Wait, no she isn't. She might soon though—shit—have to help—

 **"C'mon Chika. Does it hurt?"**

The little girl shook her head, brushing her arm over her eyes.

 **"Ok… Does it hurt to get up?"**

The little girl shook her head, beginning to stand up despite her scraped knee.

 **"… Good. You're very strong, Chika."**

… Shit, he sees me.

Shit, I'm still flat on my butt.

Gotta get up, I'm embarrassing myself.

 **"Are you alright? I'm sorry, Chika didn't mean to run into you."**

 _'I'm fine! Don't need to touch me, I'm fine!'_

 **"…? Are you crying? I'm sorry, did you hurt your leg?"**

 _No! I'm fine, I'm not crying—!_

Shit, I'm crying. Not again.

 **"… Are you lost? Here, I'll help you find your parents. Do you remember what they were wearing?"**

 _'…Mom had a pale blue coat. And a scarf that matches mine.'_

 **"Ok, do you want me to carry you? Your knee looks like it hurts…"**

 _'No. Leave me the hell alone.'_

The girl gasped. **"That's a bad word!"**

 _'It's not hurting anyone. S'not a bad word.'_

 **"Is too!"**

 _'Is not!'_

 **"Now now, Chika… Let's help her find her mother."**

 **"… I'm sorry for being rude… I'm Chika."**

 _'… Mori.'_

 **"… If you won't let me carry you, will you at least hold my hand so you don't get lost again?"**

 _'No. I'd rather hold Chika's hand, you look shifty.'_

 **"Mori would rather hold my hand, big brother!"**

 **"… Shifty…?"** He murmured under his breath. **"I guess you can hold Chika's hand... I'm Amatori Rinji, by the way. Chika's my little sister."**

-0-

Yoneya had left the room a while ago, Miwa having fallen asleep and the doctors shooing him out so everyone else could have a turn. It was fine though, he had confirmed Miwa would be ok, and Mori…

… The doctors gave her the clear a couple minutes before Yoneya had walked in, but apparently, that could change at any moment.

( _Yoneya shouldn't have left her behind_.)

 ** _"Are you still going to meet up with Miwa?"_**

 ** _"Yeah, the rest of the C-ranks need the most protecting right now, are you alright over here?"  
_**

 ** _"Yeah, we'll be fine! We're bringing back Izumi-senpai too, alright?"_**

 ** _"Yeah, get bullet-brains back to HQ! Stay safe, you two!"_**

( _He shouldn't have left them alone_.)

Yoneya was snapped out of his thoughts however as distant, muffled sobs filtered into his ears.

He jolted, walking through the hospital halls, peering around the corner curiously.

"… Midorikawa?"

Said male jumped, nearly tipping over from where he'd been crouching down on the floor. " _Y-Yoneyan_!"

"Are you ok?"

Midorikawa nodded hurriedly, scrambling to his feet as he wiped his eyes quicker than Yoneya could react. "Everything's fine, _everything's fine_! Just got something in my eye!"

Yoneya rubbed the back of his head, beginning to lean back as Midorikawa began to flail his arms around. "You're not very good at lying when you're nervous, you know."

Midorikawa froze, hands dropping back down to his sides as he bent down to pick up his water bottle, having been set down beside where he'd been sitting. "… Sorry. Just… _tired_."

"Yeah, I know," Yoneya pat his head reassuringly. "This has been a rough day, hasn't it."

Midorikawa nodded somberly, slowly pushing Yoneya's hand away as he took a sip of his water.

"… When Yuma and I had the rank battle…"

Yoneya hummed, leaning against the wall beside his friend.

"… He told me to apologize to Mikumo-senpai… _I never got around to it_."

"You'll get to," Yoneya said, the statement so certain that Midorikawa felt a little better. "She'll wake up eventually, _and everything will go back to normal_."

-0-

 _'Ah, no fair.'_

 **"Now, don't say that just cause you lost, Mori."**

 _'This is bullshit.'_

Chika sighed, now used to our antics.

 **"Mori, don't swear around Chika."**

 _'If I'm old enough to swear, she is too.'_

 **"… That's not the point."**

 _'But still. It's impossible, no one wins this many games of monopoly. You're cheating.'_

 **"… I'm not. Mori, maybe you'd win if you just took some risks and bought some property."**

 _'No, that's the opposite of efficient. You're spending money then, so how'd you still win?! Also, I kept getting bad rolls! You rigged the die!'_

 **"I didn't rig it, we both used the same die. Calm down."**

 _'… Fine.'_

 **"Mori, big brother's right. When you buy property, whoever lands on it has to pay."**

 _'I know that. I'm not dumb.'_

 **"So regardless of how much the property cost, you'll get back enough money to make up for it, and more. That's why brother keeps winning."**

 _'…What?'_

 **"You're not very smart, are you."**

 _'SHUT IT, CRAPFACE.'_

 **" _Language_."**

 **"… Mori, are you alright in there?"**

 _'Oh, mom! Rinji called me dumb.'_

 **"Oi— Don't say it so bluntly!"  
**

 **"It was all in good fun I hope? I just bought a new knife earlier today…"**

 **"Mikumo-san… that sentence was very unsettling."**

 _'Get him, mom!'_

 **"Now now, let's not be so hasty. Bodies are hard to hide, after all."**

 **"… Saying that with such a bland expression is all the more terrifying…"**

 **"Big brother, you shouldn't have made fun of Mori."**

 **"Wait, this is my fault?"**

 **"Indeed."**

 _'Take THAT! Don't call me dumb again, you hear me?!'_

 **"… Mori, how would you feel about being tutored?"**

 _'Hey, don't change the sub—! Hey, you weren't just implying that I was stupid again, WERE YOU?!'_

 **"… That's actually not a bad idea."**

 _'You too, mom?!'_

 **"You may fall behind when we switch schools Mori, I want to make sure you're transitioning alright."**

 **"Switching schools?"**

 _'…Mom said I could go to the middle school in Mikado.'_

 **"Oh, that's cool. You'd be closer to us, and it'd make things easier for the lessons."**

 _'Wait, I don't get a say in this?!'_

 **"I'm going to middle school in Mikado too, I hope we get into the same school!"**

 _'… Yeah. That'd be nice.'_

 **"… You look like you're constipated."**

 _'Rinji, come over here reeeeaaaal quick. If you don't have anything useful to say, I'll go ahead and murder you.'_

 **"…You need a nickname or something, your normal face is either blank or upset. A cute nickname will be so offsetting for strangers that it'll be baffling."**

 _'Oi, you sound like you're only doing this for your own amusement, bastard.'_

 **"A cute nickname would fit Mori, big brother."**

 _'…Would it really though?'_

 **"Oh, how about 'Ri'?"**

 _'Nope. Too cutesy, too short.'_

 **"… I think that'll do it."**

 _'Wait, what? Seriously?'_

-0-

Everything had gone well.

Fourth best future, Jin would usually be treating himself to a nice, long nap with how high on the list that is.

( _Over 400 terrible futures. Man, the large-scale invasion was_ ** _tough_**.)

But… There was a pit of guilt in Jin's stomach that he couldn't shake, no matter how much he searched for Replica with Yuma, walked around town, eyes flickering through the happy futures, tried to comfort Chika, talked to Shiori, completed tasks for Kido….

( _The guilt was overpowering_.)

There was a dark, dreary cloud hanging over Tamakoma. It seemed almost inevitable for every branch member to walk through the building at least three times a week, and the cloud seemed to intensify with every person that walked through it. Every person that fuelled its negativity.

The negativity, that continued to scream at Jin.

' _You did this. You_ ** _could_** _have stopped it._ '

( _But you didn't. You never even_ ** _tried_**.)

Jin always tried. It was his everyday schedule, try, try, and try again. Try to stop this, try to stop that, and for the most part… He succeeded. Most of the time, the worst possible outcome was always avoided.

But this time, the knowledge that this wasn't the end, not even close, wasn't enough.

Because everything was so very quiet without Mori there.

( _She's such a loudmouth sometimes… Her presence, or_ ** _lack-there-of_** _, is really hard to miss_.)

' _I should've done something more_.'

And when he finally brought himself to visit Mori and her mother in the hospital, he couldn't stop the apologies from spilling out.

-0-

 **"No, you substitute it there."**

 _'Huh? Why do I need to change it?'_

 **"… Here, let's take a break."**

 _'Oh, thank god! My shoulders are cramping up…'_

 **"You should really be making an effort for this, you know."**

 _'I am! It's hard!'_

 **"… Why don't we go out for ice cream."**

 _'Huh? Why so suddenly, are you chickening out?'_

 **"No, you just look tired. We need to get your blood sugar up, have you eaten anything today?"**

 _'… Have I…? I don't think so…'_

 **"See? Let's get something for you to eat."**

 _'… I was busy waiting for you to get here, and tried studying on my own.'_

 **"… So that's what the extra textbooks in your room were about."  
** _  
'It just— it won't work though! Math just doesn't make sense! And I don't want to bother mom…'_

 **"And it's ok to bother me?"**

 _'Well, I mean— You've always been one of the most reliable people I've known.'_

 **"… Was that a compliment?"**

 _'MAYBE. You don't need to make a big deal about it though— one-time thing only!'_

 **"Thank you. I think that's the first time you've said something positive about me."**

 _'Don't get used to it. Now go buy me ice-cream, you fried my brain with all of this math jargon!'_

 **"… You're not as mean as you make everything think, Ri."**

 _'Huh? Leave me alone, I'm not in the mood for any insults right now!'_

 **"… That wasn't an insult."**

 _'O-oh. It wasn't…?'_

 **"… Ri, are you not used to receiving compliments…?"**

 _'Maybe from Mom, sometimes. I don't know, something about your face made what you said seem condescending.'_

 **"Rude."**

 _'Shut.'_

 **"Well, anyway—"**

 _'Wai—THERE'S A CAR, YOU MORON!'_

A screech of tires.

I huffed in exhaustion and relief.

 _'What the hell?! Why aren't you looking where you're fucking going, the car was RIGHT THERE!'_

 **"… Ri…?"**

 _'Don't look at me with that blandly surprised face! It's annoying, why didn't you move away sooner?! You almost got run over, you idiot!'_

 **"… How did you see that? I didn't even notice the car…"**

 _'Huh? But… It was coming right towards you. How didn't you see it?'_

 **"… Huh. Still, they were too fast for me to catch their licence plate... I would've reported them if I did, shame."**

 _'It was_ _XXXXXX_ _... Did you seriously not see that…?'_

 **"…?"**

 _'How didn't you see that? You could see it when they passed by you, are you blind?'_

 **"… Never mind, let's just go get ice cream."**

 _'Ok…? You better get me three scoops for causing so much trouble, I'll be telling mom and Chika about this.'_

-0-

Konami felt awful.

It was a no-brainer, considering what the past few days had led up to, but that didn't lessen the pain.

It almost felt worse.

Yuma had completely immersed himself in training, offering to spar against Konami every once in a while when she passed by the training room he spent his days in. She refused most of the time, having known that she wouldn't be able to focus.

He'd spoken to her before that, before all he thought about was training. He'd mumbled quietly so no one else could hear, asking if she was ok.

She was fine, at the time. Compared to what he and Chika were going through, that was nothing.

( _Jin had invited Reiji out for ramen, which was the usual for whenever he was pulling strings again. She knew the drill, he'd leave tracks. Karasuma would pick them up, and go to him next._

 _But Karasuma continued his day-to-day life, completely unaware of what had transpired._

 _It baffled Konami, why Jin had so suddenly decided that this was worth hiding, worth covering up. So she cornered him._

 _"Ah, Konami!" He waved cheerily, a bag of fried rice-crackers in his free hand. "A lovely day we're having, right?"_

 _"Cut the bullshit," Konami cut him off, eyes narrowing. "Why'd you avoid letting Karasuma know that you went to go talk with Reiji?"_

 _Jin paused, movement coming to a halt. Konami only crossed her arms over her chest, tapping her foot against the ground impatiently._

 _"…Want a fried rice-cracker?"_

 _"Jin!" Konami finally yelled, taking a step towards him in anger. "Get to the point, it's obviously serious if you're working so hard to cover it up!"_

 _Jin paused again, retracting the rice-cracker he had been holding out for her, popping it into his own mouth._

 _"…During the upcoming invasion," He began carefully. "There'll be multiple black Triggers, that I'm sure of. The battles will be long and difficult… And Kyosuke doesn't really have a chance of changing some of the bad things that might happen."_

 _Konami gave him an unimpressed stare, and he shrugged. "I didn't want him to know that there's nothing else he can do, I guess." He offered another rice-cracker, and Konami accepted it absentmindedly this time. "He'll be under a bit of stress once this is all over as it is, I don't want any guilt weighing him down to top it all off."_

 _"Alright, what about_ ** _me_** _?" Konami retaliated. "What should I do, to make sure everything goes according to plan?"_

 _There was a long pause on Jin's part, once again._

 _"…I don't think you'll be able to do much. You'll still be around by the end of the invasion I think, but you just won't be in a position to help."_ )

That was a few days before the invasion.

And now, knowing the events that had transpired, she couldn't help but feel like Jin was right all along.

She felt helpless. There wasn't a damn thing she could've done to help Mori, and a small part of her knew it.

 ** _"Agent Konami, agent Kikuchihara, retrieve the black Trigger and bring it to HQ before going east to cover their previous position!"_**

What could she have done… _betray her orders?_ It wouldn't have been outlandish for her to do, but leaving Kikuchihara alone with a humanoid Neighbour, done for or not, would've been dangerous.

A fist smashed into the wall, cracking stone and cement.

Konami didn't care. It didn't hurt nearly as much as the pain inside did.

(' ** _There was nothing you could do_**.')

"Yeah…" She muttered, a tear sliding down her cheek. " _That's what I'm so mad about_."

-0-

 **"…I'm bored, Chika, Ri."**

 _'Suck it up.'_

 **"Aw, mean…"**

 **"Big brother, don't tease Mori."**

 **"I wasn't!"**

 _'… I'm tired.'_

 **"… Huh. You didn't snap at me."**

 _'… Shut.'_

 **"Mori looks much more approachable when she's sleepy, it's kind of cute."**

 _'Chika, what the heck's that supposed to mean?'_

 **"You look more peaceful."**

 _'… Oh.'_

 **"Are you blushing?"**

 _'No.'_

 **"… I think you are."**

 _'You too Chika?'_

 **"You are… What a sight. Compliments are what get you, huh?"**

 _'Alright, now you're making fun of me.'_

 **"No, don't roll over! I'm sorry."**

 _'… I'm still tired.'_

 **"… Do you guys have anything you want to do when you grow up?"**

A change of subject. Perfect.

 **"… I don't really think about that kind of stuff, you know that, Chika."**

 _'I want to join Border.'_

 **"Really? That didn't seem like the type of thing you'd be into…"**

 _'I'm teaching myself to use a sword. I'm also exercising a lot.'_

 **"… Still doesn't really fit you."**

 **"Brother."**

 **"Alright, alright…"**

 _'… Am I not good enough for that kind of stuff?'_

 **" _Brother_."**

 **"That's not what I was saying! You just didn't seem like you were too interested in going around and saving random people off of the street."**

 _'I want to protect the city, that's all.'_

 **"Do you even know how any of it works? The system they have in Border? Anything?"**

 _'… Not really. I thought they'd teach me once I joined.'_

 **"I suppose."**

 **"… I'm not sure if I'd want to join Border. I'd just cause them trouble."**

 **"You shouldn't think like that, Chika. You're not inconveniencing anyone."**

 _'Yeah, you're amazing, Chika. You shouldn't ever think of yourself less than you actually are.'_

 **"… Thank you, Mori."**

 _'… Although you could use some toughening up. You're super soft-spoken. I've only ever heard you object to something Rinji or I say, but never anyone else.'_

 **"Ri's right about that, Chika. If someone else is doing something you don't like, you should speak up."**

 **"… I'm not very good at that though."**

 _'… We'll work on it.'_

-0-

Chika felt like nothing had changed.

Not one bit.

She managed to speak up, to try her best to stop Mori from saying goodbye at that time… but it was in vain.

She couldn't stop her.

Yuma had barely talked for the past few days, Chika and Konami being the only people he willingly spoke to whenever they passed by. And even then, the only time she'd heard his voice in said time stamp, was when they first arrived at the hospital and he whispered apologies in her ear and they met each other in the middle.

(She'd apologized too. She couldn't say anything else, she was so, so sure she'd be ready to face Yuma, but the moment she saw his expression, her resolve shattered.)

She felt like nothing had changed.

But at the same time, everything had. Because this time, she made the decision that the outcome would never be the same.

A gunshot.

She aimed her sniper rifle once again, eyes narrowed in determination as she stared down the targets.

It would never be the same. Because unlike last time, she was working the hardest she could to better herself. To do something more than sitting on the sidelines, to become someone Mori wouldn't have to strain herself to protect.

Another gunshot.

Chika would never be that person again. She may have moments where she stumbled and fell, like every other human being. But she would no longer require protection from those around her at all times.

She had her own walls, her own burdens she needed to overcome. She knew without a doubt Mori would be there to help her, but Mori would under no circumstances, be the one to carry her over the hurdles.

(She'd be doing that herself. With Mori and Yuma beside her, not dragging her along.)

Another gunshot.

-0-

 **(** **April 28th, Sunday** **)**

 _'Rinji… What the hell is this?'_

 **"A Border Trigger. A weapon."**

(He'd always been fairly straightforward when speaking to me. I was usually thankful, but now it just made me mad.)

 _'… It's a weapon. No shit, why the hell do you have it?'_

 **"I made a deal with someone to get it."**

 _'Who. I'm gonna punch them in the face.'_

 **"Haha, I'm not going to betray their trust THAT easily. You should know me better than that by now, Ri."**

 _'… I hate you, Rinji.'_

 **"You only say that. But for the plan… My collaborators and I are going to check beyond the gates, get a good look at the other side."**

 _'… Why the hell would you agree to that? It sounds super dangerous. You're being a moron again.'_

 **"Not a moron. And besides… it's something important to me."**

 _'… Why? What would you even get out of it?'_

 **"The Neighbours come in through a gate, we know that. We hear the alarm every time it happens, for heaven's sake. But how do the few that survive, get back to where they came from?… Where do the captured people go?"**

 _'I don't like where you're going with this.'_

 **"I didn't think you would, you're too predictable, Ri. But look at this map, we've got a few ideas for possible locations for this so-called… 'return gate'. Depending on what's generating it, we might be able to destroy it."**

 _'… Chika would be able to stop running away from them…'_

 **"Exactly. You get me now?"**

 _'… I refuse. It's fucking dangerous, Rinji. Do you know how devastated Chika would be if you got hurt?!'_

 **"It's worth the risk, Ri."**

 _'No, it isn't! Nothing is worth a human life, you should know that!'_

 **"Mori."**

 _'Contact the rest of your dumbass friends and pack up the fucking project. I'm not letting you do this, Rinji.'_

 **"… You're much more stubborn about this than I thought you'd be."**

 _'Fuck you. This is Chika's happiness you're putting on the line. If you think that you're the only one at risk, think again.'_

(This is _your_ life you're putting on the line, damn it)

A heavy sigh. **"… I hope you'll change your perspective on this—"**

 _'Promise me.'_

 **"Hm?"**

 _'Promise me. Swear to fucking god that you won't leave Chika. Promise you won't leave us.'_

(Don't go)

 **"… Yeah. I promise you, Mori."**

(You **_lied_**.)

-0-

For the past week, Kasumi spent most of her time in a hospital room.

It was sombre, sitting in a chair beside her daughter's bedside for as many visitor hours there was all day, patiently waiting for any indication of movement.

She became quite familiar with the agents that would visit all day, never saying a word despite the fact that she could pick most of them out of a crowd without their introductions.

On the first day after Mori had been admitted, Kasumi had been there first, along with Chika and Yuma, whom she had requested stay over after meeting them at the hospital the evening before.

Dragging the two unresponsive teens out of the hospital had baffled the others Border agents with them, but Kasumi couldn't bring herself to care.

( _She had left before even introducing herself as Mori's mother. She would have usually remembered, but the stress had gotten to her and she'd forgotten in her haste_.)

The next day, upon insistence from Chika and Yuma, all three of them were up as early as they could and off to the hospital.

( _Well, it's not like she didn't agree with their request_.)

They had been the only ones at the hospital for a long while, Kasumi sitting in the chair right beside the bed, and Yuma and Chika silently communicating on the other side of the bed with their own chairs.

Kasumi didn't know what she could've done for them. She just didn't have the same wavelength that Mori had shared with the two of them, and the best she could do was offer a silent shoulder.

Miwa Shuji, the boy sharing a hospital room with Mori, had been sleeping peacefully on the other side of the room in his bed. Yuma had insisted on taking a seat in the chair farthest from him, although his eyes conveyed no hate when making the offer. Chika had agreed in a heartbeat, so she assumed it was once again, Border business.

The first visitors other than them had arrived at around 9 AM that day. The door had opened quietly with a click, a soft voice muttering a quick 'sorry to intrude' before two teens had walked in.

Shiori and Yoneya, as Chika introduced them, ( _Shiori-san looked happy when she heard Chika speak up. Kasumi was proud that she felt better than yesterday, although Yuma had stayed quiet throughout the entire visit_ ) were both quite friendly and had a positive aura in the room. Shiori had struck up a conversation with Chika, whose responses were still sadly quite soft-spoken, while Yoneya travelled to the other side of the room in a flash to check on Miwa.

( _He didn't look too worried though, she assumed he had already received the news that he would be fine. The soft smile that took over his expression as he stared at the sleeping boy, however… was none of her business_.)

Yuma was still silent but showed no signs of being downtrodden at the loss of his partner's attention. He was about to sit back down, but Kasumi pulled up a chair and invited him to sit beside her instead.

( _He obliged. She was silent and to most, seemed to not be very good company, but Yuma felt as if she had a soothing presence that filled the silence every time they met, without fail_.)

Shiori set down a vase along with a few Orchids to occupy said container, as Yoneya walked back to their side of the room. With no doctors around to stop him at the moment, he softly patted Mori's head, careful not to touch any of the surrounding equipment.

( _Kasumi didn't stop him. Although she didn't converse with either of them, the guilt leaking into their expressions told her enough_.)

They left shortly after, one last promise to Chika and Yuma to visit again later. Yuma, once again, had not said a word as he bid them farewell.

Kasumi had gone to retrieve some water for the flowers. However, on her way back, there were a few lilacs and daisies set down in front of the door, both bundles carefully wrapped with clear wrapping and two ribbons each. A green ribbon, and a unique sienna-coloured ribbon respectively.

( _She couldn't help but stare at the green ribbon tying the lilacs together for a long while. The colour didn't match the flowers themselves, but were eerily similar to the shade of green that painted her daughter's pupils_.)

She picked up the lilacs and daisies, three carefully chosen flowers in both bundles.

( _She brought both miniature bouquets inside, setting them down in the same, large vase as she watered all three bundles of flowers. She ignored the curious glances that Chika and Yuma sent her, she wouldn't know the answers to any of their questions anyway_.)

The next guests, arriving at around 3 PM the same day, consisted of a strawberry blonde girl, an earnest brunette, and a polite young lady.

The blonde's name was Konami Kirie and apparently Yuma's teacher. The male teen had muttered a few words to Konami when she dashed over to him, but not loud enough for anyone else to hear.

( _Kasumi and Chika were just grateful he'd spoken at all, honestly_.)

Konami gave an exaggerated wave, murmuring a quick reply before her arms looped around him and guided him back to his seat. She passed by Mori's bed on the way, absentmindedly dropping a stuffed bear on the table beside the vase as she continued to chatter on to Yuma distractedly.

The young man walked in with the short-haired girl next, and Kasumi absentmindedly recognized them as the ones that popped up on TV quite often to advertise for Border. He introduced them as Arashiyama Jun and Kitora Ai, while the female teen bowed and greeted Kasumi.

Her own introduction was met with some disbelief, first with the familiarity of her surname, then her age.

"You're her _mom_?!" Konami shrieked, volume uncharacteristically low to avoid waking up Miwa. _"You look so young!"_

Kitora had given a small apology for failing to rescue Mori, despite not having been remotely in the same area ( _Chika had informed her_ ) while Arashiyama had done the same.

Konami stuttered and fumbled for words for a moment, before offering the same. An apology.

Kasumi accepted their words, despite telling them that it wasn't necessary. Arashiyama and Kitora had hesitated after that sentence, but the strawberry blonde seemed weighed down by another matter entirely.

Arashiyama set down a small book on the bedside table on his way out, as they left the hospital not long afterwards.

( _A cookbook. She'd enjoy that_.)

That evening, Yuma and Chika had stated that they'd be staying at the Tamakoma base as to not inconvenience Kasumi further. She didn't object, knowing that they were more stubborn on that front than anybody would expect, and allowed them to leave.

( _The house was so quiet, so_ ** _lonely_** _._ )

The next day, Kasumi had returned to the hospital at the same time, sitting at Mori's bedside for an agonizingly long time.

However, this time, there was a difference in the everyday schedule before anyone else could arrive.

"… What… day is it…?"

Kasumi glanced up in surprise, just before getting up and retrieving a cup of water for the teen that had just awoken.

"The 17th," She responded quickly, handing Miwa the cup as he sat up slowly. "Don't strain yourself."

He blinked blearily, leaning back against the pillows situated behind his back and against the bed's headboard. "… You're," A cough. " _Not_ a nurse."

"I'm not," She agreed coolly, watching him take sips of the water as she returned to her chair. "I'm Mori's mother, Mikumo Kasumi. Pleasure."

He blinked, eyes flickering to the bed beside her quickly. "… _Hm_."

"You just woke up, you should relax for a bit," She suggested blandly. "You may still be disoriented."

He nodded slowly, albeit reluctantly as he leaned back further against the pillows as his eyes scanned the room absentmindedly.

"… _What's this_?"

Kasumi blinked eyes catching a small dog plushie being crushed in Miwa's grasp. Her eyes drifted to a small indent in the bed, right beside his pillow and slightly hidden by blankets.

"Ah, Yoneya-kun must have left that for you," She thought out loud. "He visited you yesterday."

"He did…?" Miwa glanced at the plushie for a moment longer, before he set it back down beside his pillow. "… ** _Moron_**."

"Would you like me to put that on the table with the rest of the gifts?" She offered politely.

Miwa paused, before rolling over. "… _It's fine where it is_."

Many more people came to visit. It was almost tiring, seeing so many expressions dropping with the weight of guilt as she stated her relation with Mori. It was tiring, hearing so many apologies come her way when they weren't warranted.

But she recognized every single face, every single personality. Because for as random as Mori's descriptions over dinner seemed, they were scarily accurate as she finally met each person that her daughter had.

 **"Arashiyama-senpai's so friendly, but not in an annoying way! It's unnerving though, he's like the big brother of everyone!"**

 **"Tokieda-san's nice, in a super quiet way though… Very friendly though, and really patient."**

 **"There's Kitora too! She's mean, and I feel kind of shitty half the time I'm around her, but she's been less of a bitch lately... I guess? She's polite to elders, and is relatively pretty."**

 **"I met an A-rank named Kikuchihara today. Kikuchihara-senpai was really blunt, but not in a mean way. Super honest, and he seems rude even though he was actually super helpful."**

 **"Oh, there's Yoneya too. He and his teammate attacked me the first time we met, but there was a small... misunderstanding? I don't know, it was Border stuff. I met him again though, overly friendly. Miwa's kind of a dick though."**

 **"Midorikawa-san's loud and boisterous…? Yuma was kind of mad at him at first though, I don't understand why. They're friends now."**

 **"Jin's annoying. I like his sunglasses, but his personality is naturally nosy, and he's a know it all. I'm envious of him… The rice-crackers are good though… Maybe one day… I'll apologize for being an ass to him."**

 **"Yotaro stays at Tamakoma, even though I don't know why yet. He's childish and likes to brag, but it doesn't bother me much, and I like him."**

 **"Rindou-san's our boss. He's not strict or rude like Commander Kido though, so he's more like our dad or uncle than anything. I like him too."**

 **"When I first met Kizaki-san, I was kind of intimidated. He's smart and kind though, and he cares about everyone at Tamakoma."**

 **"Konami's super sweet, gullible, and pretty. Strong too, and a little blunt when you first meet."**

 **"Karasuma-senpai's my mentor. He's patient and seems to know everyone… he has a million part-time jobs too, I think. Jin mentioned it at some point, I was only half listening. Karasuma-senpai's always making sure that I'm learning properly though, even though sometimes it's chaotic."**

 **"Shiori's our operator! She's cheerful, kind, while also offering help whenever she can. Even though she's super fixated on my glasses…"**

( _Mori, when will you wake up…?_ )

-0-

 **(May 2nd, Thursday)**

 **"…Evidence that they used a Trigger…"**

 **"…Remains haven't been found…"**

 **"…So they were probably captured…"**

I grit my teeth angrily, wide eyes staring at the house. My green orbs met with another man's, his narrowed eyes just barely passing over me as he held an umbrella high over his head.

( _The rain was falling around me_ )

His eyes left me just as quickly, and I felt like I couldn't breathe.

I ran past everyone gathered at the entrance, pushing aside another blonde teen as I dashed into the house. I ignored the indignant 'hey!' as I slammed the door shut behind me, prying my shoes off in an instant and running through the halls.

The halls I was so familiar with now, having been here a million times.

I passed by the kitchen, coming to a steady halt at the doorway of the living room. My breathing was heavy, and my footsteps were loud enough for Chika to hear as she jolted and stood up, eyes swinging around to meet my own.

 _'Chika.'_

 **"Mori—"** She choked out. **"—Rinji—My brother—!"**

I walked around the couch to meet her in the middle, her own shaky legs carrying her closer to me.

 **"—He's gone!"** She broke, the first tear of many slipping down her cheek. **"It's all my fault!"**

I grabbed her around the shoulders, my own tears welling up in my eyes as she buried her head in the crook my neck.

 **"It's all my fault!"** She repeated, a sob escaping her lips as I sniffled along with her.

She tried to force more words out, but the only thing that came out was a heartbroken cry.

( _That… was the first, and last time I ever saw Chika cry_.)

My hand buried itself in her hair, tears escaping my eyelids quicker than I could stop.

 _'Rinji…'_

Chika could barely hear me over her own sobbing, my own voice weak and near-silent.

 ** _'I HATE him_** _… H-he lied to me… He p-promised, he wouldn't go….'_

Chika sobbed harder.

(And nothing was ever the same.)

-0-

The Tamakoma branch building was eerily empty.

Gatherings were minimal, and everyone was too caught up in their thoughts to hold a long enough conversation to be noteworthy.

Jin left often, travelling around the city by himself whenever it was most convenient. Konami was caught up in her thoughts, Kizaki had gone out to help the city as soon as his Trion was replenished, and Karasuma seemed to bounce between tasks, leaving no free time whatsoever. Yuma was training non-stop separately from Chika, who was doing the same. Shiori was looking into Replica's situation by request from Jin and Yuma, the job taking up most of her waking hours.

Every time one of them spent just a few moments to go visit Mori and Kasumi in the hospital, they returned just a bit more weighed down. Weighed down by the knowledge that Mori was still unconscious, still not alright.

It was startlingly clear that both her and Miwa's injuries hadn't hit the HQ agents ( _barring Yoneya, who visited Miwa in the hospital nearly every day. He had gotten a lot more cheerful after having a proper conversation with his teammate, and it only managed to bring Shiori's spirits up a little bit_ ) _nearly_ as hard as it hit them. Most HQ agents were also distracted with the situation around the city, checking areas for stray Trion soldiers, patrolling to comfort the citizens more, cleaning up the destroyed emergence zone a bit, helping clear the rubble in the city, and more.

Tamakoma was hit _hard_ by the invasion though.

 ** _"I THOUGHT YOU NEVER WANTED TO BE JUST LIKE HIM, BIG SISTER!"_**

That was the first issue. The elephant in the room that they continued to put off dealing with.

( _Big sister? Since when?!_ )

Chika and Yuma's mood had greatly affected everyone else, making the general awfulness everyone felt even worse. They had silently agreed not to bring up Chika's words form the invasion until Mori was up and going again, for the sake of both of them.

The air was thick and heavy, and Rindou had the _pleasure_ of watching it all unfold.

-0-

The teen tapped her shoes against the floor, fingers reaching out and making sure the back's weren't tucked in.

Kasumi stood behind her, eyes flickering sadly as she gazed at her daughter near the door.

 **"Mori,"** She began, watching said teen pause before her hand touched the door handle.

 **"…Are you going to be alright?"**

Mori paused.

Before spinning around and nodding to her mother, bland expression now shifting.

 _'I'm fine.'_

And she shut the door behind her, running from the house as her mother frowned sadly.

She never made any friends at school after that. Anyone she had been friendly with before, now stayed away from her like the plague. She gave clipped responses at anyone that spoke to her, and her tone was unnaturally monotone.

( _She lost a part of herself. She wanted so desperately to become close to others, to have a group that she could trust and lean on, but she couldn't find them_.)

( _No one wanted to try getting close to her again_.)

-0-

"Shiro?" Utagawa asked curiously. "Where're you going?"

Said teen tapped his shoes against the floor, eyes slightly narrowed and trained on the floor as he grabbed the door handle. "… Shiori's been pressuring me to visit."

He was carrying a small bag in his hand, the plastic rustling quietly as he walked.

"Huh?" Utagawa gave him a curious look. "But I haven't seen you two talk for a while, other than the invasion. And why would she tell you to visit her—?"

The door shut with a soft click, cutting him off halfway.

Mikami gave the door a strange glance, setting down cups of tea in front of her two teammates, taking the last cup for herself. "That was unusual behaviour for Kikuchihara-kun."

Kazama set his hands on the cup, giving his operator a grateful nod as he sipped the warm drink. "He's just doing what **_I_** did."

Utagawa and Mikami both blinked in confusion, sending each other questioning glances as their captain ignored them.

( _After all, Kazama had been the one to recognize Kikuchihara's talent for what it always was, the teen had only just started to do that for someone else. It wasn't too unusual_.)

-0-

 **"The aptitude test will begin in five minutes. Please take your assigned seats."**

Mori took a seat in one of the many rows, bringing out her pencil as she scanned the sheet of paper in front of her blandly.

It was a simple sheet full of questions, with a scale of 0-10 for each question.

( _Is it really worth it?_ )

5.

( _You might end up dead, just like Rinji_.)

7.

( _He was the most reliable person, right? If he messed up so badly, what makes you think you won't fuck up even worse?_ )

2.

( _What makes you so special? You've been practising for this moment for so long, and what has it amounted up to?_ )

4.

( _All of these people are simply worth more than you. In a statistical sense, they provide more for the city. They'll be better Border agents than you ever will_.)

1.

( _After all, who wants someone to protect them when they can't even get their emotions across straight? Just sit down, you'll be better off on the sidelines_.)

 **8.**

( _Useless. Just like you've always been. You had one job, stop Rinji. And where'd that get you?_ )

 **7.**

( _Can't even protect one of the four people that ever cared about you, how do you expect to protect hundreds of strangers all around the city?_ )

 **2.**

( _Human lives are valued differently from each perspective. To society, to Border, to everyone else in the world? You might as well be the dirt on their shoes_.)

 **4.**

( _But for Chika, you're priceless. She cared about you and Rinji so much, you saw it yourself. It's not even you being conceited for once, she was one of the few to hammer that through your thick, dumb skull. When you die, are you really willing to put her through that…_ )

 **… _0_.**

(… _All over again?_ )

Her pencil cracked.

A door shut loudly, just as Mori pulled her shoes off absentmindedly.

 **"Mori? How'd you do on the test?"**

A quick, insincere nod.

 _'I didn't do too well. Sorry about that guys, it was all just a waste of time for me.'_

Kasumi gave a slow nod after a prolonged silence, just before leaving the room.

Chika stared at Mori, eyes saddening as she took in the sight of her friend's blank expression.

 **"…You're a terrible liar."**

 _'Hm?'_

 **"Nothing."**

-0-

 **"Most of the destruction was limited to the emergence zone, so casualties were avoided in that department. There were, however, 29 C-rank trainees that were kidnapped by the Neighbours during this large scale invasion."**

Rindou was unusually serious, sitting up straight in his chair as he looked over the crowd of people.

 **"That concludes the report, there is more detailed data in your handout,"** Netsuki spoke from the podium, expression smoothed over and generally unconcerned. **"We will now answer any questions you may have."**

Rindou soundlessly tapped his foot against the ground under the table. Although his expression seemed focused on the matter at hand, his mind was only partially paying attention.

It was simple to brush aside most of the media's criticism. After all, he'd known form the start what Netsuki was planning on saying. Throw out some fancy numbers, read off the statistics, boast about our success. Fantastic.

But Netsuki was kind of an ass like that, in which that just wouldn't be enough.

( _Everyone at Tamakoma has picked up some semblance of Mori's swearing in the past few months. Jesus_.)

He needed someone to blame, a scapegoat to shuffle off some of the issues so Border would be better off.

Miwa would cut his head off, no regard for the consequences if Netsuki used him to get pity from the public. Also, Rindou didn't know all of the details, but apparently Netsuki and Mori's mother had gone to school together at some point…? And he was terrified of her.

So, those two were out.

Rindou felt like he might use the C-rank from last year, the one from the attack on Mori, Chika, and Yuma's school. But one could never be sure, as that trainee had already been punished accordingly.

But regardless, the conference would be a cakewalk, under normal circumstances. The press had nothing to complain about, everything went much better than the last invasion. Rindou should just sit there, be quiet, and wait for all of it to pass.

But no. That just wouldn't do.

( _Wasn't it mentioned how everyone picked up Mori's swearing? Well, most of them picked up her reckless and ridiculously fantastic ideas too. Her behaviour is_ ** _infectious_** _._ )

So, before the conference ended, Rindou stood up. The press was still upset about how this meeting had gone ( _especially regarding the loss of the C-rankers, not that he could blame them_ ), and he had an idea about how to shake things up a bit.

He just needed to give them something to talk about. It was what Netsuki was originally planning to do, there's nothing wrong with shaking the tree to get a few good apples, was there?

He ignored the bewildered and confused glances all of the directors sent him as he walked up to the podium, and adjusted the microphone nonchalantly.

 **"Regarding the 26 trainees…"** He began easily. **"…To take responsibility, we at Border are beginning to proceed with plans to recover the abducted people… _that were taken to the other side of the gate_."**

Rindou would never admit it, but he was internally cackling during the entire speech, watching out of the corners of his eye as Kinuta and Netsuki drastically paled.

-0-

 **"So, you really did it."**

I was sweating, eyes stubbornly trained on the papers in between us.

 **"…Mori, look at me."**

I hesitantly obliged.

She was standing up straight in her seat, narrowed eyes trained on me. I nearly shrunk under her scrutiny, barely managing to hold strong.

 **"I'm not mad, Mori. Please understand that."**

I paused.

 _'…You're not?'_

 **"I'm not,"** She repeated, nodding as her eyes scanned the papers. **"I'm simply curious. What made you change your mind?"**

I paused, mind flashing back a few weeks.

 _'…I met someone.'_

 **"Hm?"** She wordlessly encouraged me to elaborate.

 _'They're… really amazing. Smart, strong, and carefree. He—for some reason I don't know—seems to... want to be my friend? I don't know how this works anymore…'_

 **"So it's a boy."**

I nearly did a spit take.

 _'Mom, it's not like that_ ** _at all_** _—!'_

 **"I know, I know. You just made it easy to tease you."** She nodded seriously. **"It's obvious you have no romantic interest, I just felt the need to make fun of you."**

 _'…That was rude.'_

 **"Maybe,"** She agreed, before setting our conversation back on the proper track. **"…I hope you don't regret this."**

 _'I won't, I promise… I'll have Chika and Yuma beside me when we get to A-rank.'_

 **"…' _Yuma_ ', huh?"** She wondered. **"…You should bring him over, I'd like to meet him sometime."**

 _'Eh? Why?'_

 **"He seems interesting."**

-0-

Teaching was not something new for Karasuma.

After all, before he moved from HQ to Tamakoma, he had Kitora. It wasn't anything new in his life.

But teaching Mikumo had been… a strange experience. Completely unlike anything else.

Jin had insisted though, that Tamakoma-1 be their mentors, and Jin being Jin, he already knew who'd be teaching who.

He also heard Jin commenting on multiple occasions, 'Kyosuke's a good teacher he won't let you down'. If Jin was so sure about it, well then…

But teaching Mikumo had been… like previously stated, an experience.

She had the worst, reckless plans that usually, somehow managed to work, she swore constantly to the point where each word had normalized itself to the residents of Tamakoma, she was brash, and Karasuma had noticed her getting her emotions scrambled up on more than one occasion.

It was exhausting at first. At first glance, you might mistake her for self-assured, or at the very least, humble. Her neutral expression was bland enough to make you think she didn't care about anything happening around her. When she had apologized and told him he drew the short straw in terms of students, he rethought his first impression.

Then they got themselves set up in the training room, and he purposefully gave terrible explanations for the different shooter Triggers.

( _He did notice her disgruntled glance. It was slightly amusing_.)

The first battle they had, however, was slightly jarring.

She had good battle instincts. And while everyone at Tamakoma had said that many times, it was never enough o describe exactly how much that affected her fighting ability.

Nearly everything she did during a battle was thought up... practically on the spot. Her adaptability is nearly the best in the branch, although everyone felt like she could do without panicking nearly as much. ( _She didn't even NEED to panic. There was no reason to, she just did if something didn't go according to her predictions_.)

When Jin came up to him and nonchalantly let it slip that she had a side effect, he wasn't even fazed. It should have been expected, someone didn't get untrained skills like that without some kind of unnatural ability.

However, the rest of their conversation was what threw him off kilter.

 ** _"Mori's fragile. In a way that most fighters should never be, but it's obviously something she was raised with. The two of us should be careful, huh?"_**

And the worst thing was, he knew exactly what Jin was talking about.

He had a feeling the moment he saw how well she fought. If she had been telling him he drew the short end of the straw, then she was seriously underestimating herself. But why?

Again, when he first saw her grip on her emotions slip. They had been practising, and she had been eerily calm as he first used Geist in the sword shift, coming to her as quick as a missile. But just a few moments later, she screeched in terror and bolted when she accidentally blew up the house he had chased her into.

She'd been, not only in her Trion body but also in training mode, for heaven's sake. There was no reason to panic.

It was baffling, seeing someone switch between emotions that really didn't fit the situation. She had apologized hurriedly after the match, and seeing the fear leaking through her expression caused him to take a step back and think about it.

He brushed off the issue and told her it was fine, before letting her off to have lunch with everyone else. But he thought about it for a while.

Why would she react like that?

When she walked up to him after she'd composed herself, she was apologizing, so hurriedly, so scared. Like she'd made a terrible mistake.

Like he'd blame her for what happened.

It was really no big deal, there was nothing to throw the blame around for. But she'd been so scared that he couldn't shake off the feeling that something was very, very wrong with that expression.

 ** _"—it's obviously something she was raised with—"_**

The truth wasn't nearly as kind as he hoped it'd be.

( _Honestly, it should have been obvious. She did mention that Kuga was her first 'friend' barring Amatori, they all should have been tipped off by that_.)

The past wasn't something he liked to think back on too much without a proper reason though, and he rarely thought about how lonely his student must have been before Border came barreling into her life.

Yes, mentoring Mikumo had been an exhausting experience. But it was also enlightening, and fun in a way that he hadn't initially thought it'd be.

And as her mentor, once she woke up and started to feel better, he would lecture her on being stupid. She'd complain a bit, but she'd always listen to everything he had to say.


	10. We Don't Speak Anymore

"To start with, the Excellent Distinguished Service awards with a reward of 300 thousand yen, as well as 350 points. Kizaki Reiji from Tamakoma, who intercepted and fought two humanoid Neighbours, which bought time for the C-rank trainees to make their escape. The sniper team from HQ, consisting of Touma Isami, Narasaka Tooru, and Kodera Shohei, who took over protecting the east from Neighbours from Tachikawa Kei. Rabbits defeated, 2."

"Murakami Kou from Suzunari Branch, who held off three Rabbits to prevent any loss of life in the area. The B-rank team, consisting of Azuma squad, Suzunari-1, Arafune squad, Kakizaki squad, and Chano squad, who all held off and assisted in the downfall of one of the humanoid Neighbours. Rabbits defeated, 1."

"Next, Outstanding Distinguished Service awards with a reward of 800 thousand yen, as well as 800 points. Tachikawa Kei from HQ, who intercepted bomber Trion soldiers attacking HQ, then whittling down enemy forces in the east to minimize the damage to the city. Adding on to that, intercepting and fighting one of the humanoid Neighbours, and defeating another humanoid Neighbour. However, disregarded original orders to stay and protect the civilians in the east. Rabbits defeated, 9."

"Kazama squad from HQ and Karasuma Kyosuke from Tamakoma branch, who both intercepted and fought off one of the Neighbours black Triggers, assisting in the escape of the C-rank trainees. Konami Kirie from Tamakoma branch, who supported the evacuation of the C-rank trainees, and then going on to pursue Trion soldiers advancing into the southwest. On top of that, intercepted and fought off one of the enemies black Triggers to prevent any loss of life. Rabbits defeated, 1. Shiori Usami from Tamakoma branch, for being the operator for solo A-rank Jin Yuichi, Tamakoma-1, and unofficial squad, Tamakoma-2, as well as offering support with several battles across the map to support the escape of the C-rank trainees."

"Arashiyama squad from HQ stamped out the enemy forces in the forbidden zone, then provided backup support for Konami Kirie and Kikuchihara Shiro in the invasions cleanup. In addition, Kitora Ai and Satori Ken, who assisted in the escape of the C-rank trainees. Rabbits defeated, 6. Jin Yuichi from Tamakoma branch, who supported the evacuation of the C-rank trainees from the southwestern area to HQ. Also intercepted and captured a humanoid Neighbour without any loss of life."

"Yoneya Yosuke, Izumi Kohei, and Midorikawa Shun from HQ, the main force in the battle against humanoid Neighbours, contributing to their defeat. Supported the evacuation of the C-rank trainees, preventing the loss of any life. Rabbits defeated, 2. Azuma Haruaki from HQ, took command of the battle against the humanoid Neighbours, contributing to their defeat, and later rushed to the southern area to minimize the damage to the city."

"To end with the Special Distinguished Service awards with a reward of 15 hundred-thousand yen, as well as 1,500 points… Miwa Shuji from HQ, who intercepted and fought two humanoid Neighbours, as well as assisting in forcing the enemies to withdraw. Rabbits defeated, 1."

"Amou Tsukihiko from HQ, who defended a large portion of the west, as well as the northwestern areas alone, preventing any loss of life. Rabbits defeated, 3. And last, the dark horse-!"

"Shiori-san, get on with it."

" _Aw_ ~ But that was fun, and I didn't even get to the best part yet!"

"I still think they're making a bigger deal of it than it _actually_ was. We only did it because we were a team, and because of Yuma's black Trigger…"

"I mean, _everyone_ that used a black Trigger was given a special distinguished service award. Kind of proves how over-powered they are… huh?"

"Don't underestimate yourselves! And now, the dark horse! Tamakoma-2 from HQ, with Kuga Yuma, who intercepted and defeated an enemy black Trigger. Amatori Chika, who assisted in the escape of the C-rank trainees as well as staying behind to fight one of the enemy black Triggers, despite being a target. And team leader, Mikumo Mori, who assisted in the evacuation of the C-rank trainees from the southwestern area to HQ, and attacked the Neighbour ship and forced them to withdraw. Rabbits defeated in total… 7."

-0-

"We're promoting Chika."

Yuma and Chika blinked in surprise, the action mimicked by everyone else in the room.

" _WHAT_?!" Konami shrieked.

"Chika's getting a promotion." Rindou repeated, cigarette flicking up and down in his mouth as he looked over some papers in his hand. Rindou was standing by the door. Everyone else scattered around the room, with Konami, Shiori and Karasuma behind the counter of the kitchen, and Kizaki, Yotaro, Jin, Chika and Yuma sitting at the table.

"What do you mean by that, Rindou-san?" Karasuma asked, fingers loosely wrapped around the handle of a frying pan.

"So as Shiori announced to us earlier today…" He began. "The awards from the aftermath of the invasion. Tamakoma-2, as a whole, received a Special Distinguished Award due to their outstanding assist during the attack. According to the higher-ups though, there's one thing wrong with that."

Shiori nodded. "I was actually wondering about that, but I was so happy that I forgot to mention it when we had the chance to… Chika-chan is…"

"Still a C-rank," Rindou confirmed. "Which means she can't be rewarded like everyone else that received an award since she's not an actual agent. And she did risk her life for both the civilians and our own Border agents, so the award was necessary. But technically... She can't be paid."

"She didn't fight in that battle so she could be **_paid_**." Yuma spoke up icily, shocking most of the residents in the room.

Rindou nodded, stepping into the room and sitting down in the seat next to them. "I know, _I know_ , that's what I told HQ. But you know… Kinuta-san brought up a valid point."

"Huh?" Chika jolted.

Rindou took a deep breath, taking the cigarette out of his mouth for a moment to speak. "…In all of the previous training exercises you've been doing, you've gotten to, around… 1,400 points?"

"Around that number," Chika agreed. "I've been working to get many more points these past few days, so we could make it to A-rank as soon as possible…"

"Right, so to get to B-rank, you need 4,000 points," The Tamakoma branch director began. "The reward for an Special Distinguished Service award as 1,500 points. Which, _technically_ , we can give you since it's not salary compensation. So that brings you up to 2,900 points. 1,100 more to go."

Kizaki twitched. "… Where are you going with this, Rindou-san?"

He sighed. "…Transfer that amount of points from the 3,000 points that Yuma and Mori got, and bump Chika up to C-rank instantly… Is what Kinuta-san suggested. **_She needs her own Bail out function_**."

-0-

It was dark.

( _Why is it so dark?_ )

It's also very quiet.

(… _Am I dead?_ )

A beep.

( _What's that?_ )

Another beep.

… I don't like it.

( _I'm tired. I just want to keep sleeping_.)

I have to get up though.

(… _Why? Why do I need… To get up?_ )

I have to… Apologize…

(… _I just wanted everything to turn out ok._ ** _That's all I ever wanted_** _._ )

…

(… **_Chika_** _…_ ** _Yuma_** …)

-0-

"Can we really move forward like this?" Yuma wondered out loud, speaking freely in the safety of their own, brand new operator room.

"It's possible to fight a match without a team member, but not really done often, since it could be seen as us underestimating our opponents…" Shiori trailed off distractedly, pushing up her glasses as she scanned the computer. "We've got Miku-chan's signature from a few months ago though, putting her down as our squad leader… and we've got Chika's new promotion, so we're **_technically_** all set to go!"

Chika hummed, adjusting her glove with the edges of her lips turned down. "I wish she could've been here to see our first match."

Shiori and Yuma frowned at that, facing her quickly.

"…Mori'll be awake for our next match," Yuma finally stated, nodding decisively. "…If she _isn't_ , **_I'll slap her awake_**."

Chika giggled softly in slight surprise, not expecting the last comment.

"Now, now," Shiori chided, a grin returning to her face. " _I'll_ be the first to slap her, hanging up on us like that in the operator room. She'll definitely be here for the next match, don't worry about it."

" _Alright_ ," Jin's voice sounded through the door, along with a muted knock, although he didn't enter the room. "You guys have a few hours 'till the afternoon… Thanks to everyone's early promotions, you've got your uniforms, right?"

"Yup, we've got them yesterday!" Shiori confirmed through the door. "Are you going to watch the match, Jin?"

"Yup," Jin nodded, slowly stepping away from the door with a small smile on his face. "Just need to pick something up before that, I'll be back in time to watch. _None of you guys stress yourselves out_ , you hear me?"

-0-

It hurts…

Much more than last time…?

( _Have to get up, have to apologize, have to leave_ —)

I…

I need to get… Up.

-0-

Jin blinked, eyes having already seen this scene in his future vision.

Though it didn't ease the surprise in the least.

"Miwa," He greeted. "Kasumi-san."

"Greetings." Kasumi nodded, while Miwa turned his head away from the solo agent with a huff.

"How're you two doing on this _fine_ day?" Jin continued, stepping off of the wall he'd been leaning on.

"I'm doing well," Kasumi's eyes straying past Jin to glance at the hospital. "I invited Miwa-kun to have lunch, _after_ I visit Mori."

"Ah, so you're eating," Jin nodded. "That's good, _I'm glad_. I didn't expect Miwa to be with you though."

Said male scoffed disbelievingly, head still turned away.

"We've gotten acquainted during his stay at the hospital," Kasumi explained.

"The hospital is **_boring_** ," Miwa defended under his breath. "There's nothing to do, and there was _no one else_ to talk to."

"I see," Jin nodded. "Well, _don't let me be in your way_."

"…Are you waiting for anyone in specific?" Kasumi asked as Jin stuck where he was, leisurely leaning against the concrete wall that circled the building.

Jin nodded with a soft smile. "Yup. I'll see you guys later."

-0-

Miwa's scowl was barely hidden, buried into his scarf.

Being over two weeks **_after_** the invasion, the hospital was much emptier than when Kasumi had first visited. Both her and Miwa's steps echoed down the halls, and the soft footsteps of other people were faint in the never ending corridors.

"…I wonder who Jin-kun is waiting for." Kasumi thought out loud, filling in the empty silence.

"Could be _anyone_ ," Miwa grumpily stated, walking just a step behind her. "Sometimes it's as if everyone knows him."

Kasumi nodded, having met quite a few Border agents as well as Jin in the past two weeks. "He does seem popular with Border agents."

Miwa clicked his tongue, and the woman dropped the topic for his sake.

"How did you know Mori, from _before_ the invasion?" She asked curiously. "Or was that the first instance that you met?"

Miwa paused unnoticeably, thinking about how to phrase his next words. "…She tried protecting someone that we were attacking."

"I see." Kasumi looked ahead, purple-blue eyes scanning the white hallways. "Sometimes it's as if she enjoys being in the wrong spot at the wrong time… It seems to be a _reoccurring_ habit of hers."

Miwa snorted at that, the sound muffled through his scarf.

Kasumi's eyes finally landed on the familiar nameplate hung up, the door to Mori's room just up ahead. "Well, I just hope—"

The door opened, and both of their minds stalled.

Mori blinked from her spot in the bed, arm held out helpfully to the doctor on the other side of the bed.

The doctor marked down something on the sheet, before slowly moving to change the IV bag hooked up to Mori's arm.

Mori blearily blinked once more, eyes unfocused as she stared off into the vague direction of the door.

"…Hi."

Kasumi took a tentative step forward into the room.

"…M-Mori…?"

The doctor glanced up at the two newcomers, before hurriedly hanging up the IV bag and stepping towards the door.

"I'll give you a few minutes," She hurriedly muttered, stepping past Miwa and Kasumi to leave the room. "She's been awake for a just over an hour, so don't overwhelm her."

The door shut with a click, and for a while, there was silence.

-0-

"Mori," Mom finally murmured softly. "…I can't believe you're awake."

I could hear the other black blur beside her mutter something that sounded suspiciously like ' _Now of all times too_ '. I ignored whoever it was.

"…I—" I coughed. "…What day is it?"

The other black blur spoke louder than last time. Their voice didn't sound especially happy, but wasn't particularly angry at the moment either. "As of today, it's over _two weeks_ after the invasion."

Oh. That's Miwa.

…Figures.

"…Oh."

"Mori, what was going through your head?" Mom finally said sternly, stepping towards me. "Chika-chan and Yuma-kun already gave me a summary of what happened during the invasion, were you thinking… _At all_?"

My lips parted in surprise, and my good hand clenched around the bed sheets for a moment. "…I…"

Mom waited, standing right at the edge of my bed now. I couldn't see her face clearly without my glasses, but my imagination helpfully filled in an image of the last time she gave me an expression of disappointment.

"… I… I don't know what I was doing." I finally muttered, and a stinging pain shot through my shoulder in response. "… I just wanted Chika to be ok."

( _I just wanted everything to turn out ok. I know I was dumb, I'm always dumb._ )

"There's a difference between ' _safe_ ', and ' _ok_ '," Miwa sharply cut me off from the door, and I could nearly feel the glare that he must have been giving me. " ** _Evidently_** , _you've mixed them up._ "

"Miwa-kun is right," Mom lectured me softly. "At the time, I think that you forgot that Chika is your sister. And as her older sister… You have to value your life, or else you may leave her behind."

( _Rinji left her behind._ ** _I almost_** —)

I blinked, and a tear fell.

"Not only that, but you also worried others," She continued, hand reaching out to the side somewhere. "Like me. Yuma as well, and everyone at Tamakoma. Even a few others that you told me had barely known you. You can't do this again, _alright_?"

And her hand returned, my glasses in hand this time. She reached out, offering them to me silently.

The frames were blurry through, not only from my poor vision but also from the tears streaming down my face.

I nodded shakily, good hand reaching out despite the dull ache that I felt in my bones as I finally moved after two long weeks.

" _I'm sorry_ ," I began, feeling her pull me to her chest carefully. "For worrying you. _I-I'm really sorry_ , mom."

My voice shook and broke, but I was alive. I was alive and living, and right beside my mother.

And for the moment, that was enough.

-0-

"…I have permission to leave the hospital?" Mori asked in disbelief, legs dangling off the side of the bed.

"Yes, _you do_ ," The nurse answered patiently, pulling out a wheelchair into the room. "Most of your injuries are healed enough for you to leave for a short time, due to how long you were in the coma. However, you will be confined to a wheelchair, and need supervision from an adult. Also, please eat slowly if you attempt to have a meal during your time out of the hospital. You haven't had proper, solid food in two weeks, so be careful."

Mori blinked, eyes blandly staring at the wall. " _Huh_."

"Don't just say, ' _huh_ '," Miwa grumbled still leaning against the wall with the lower half of his face stuffed in his scarf. "It's getting repetitive."

"…Sorry," She apologized, just as Kasumi stepped forward to help her into the chair. "I'm just… tired."

"Mori, you just woke up from a two-week coma." Kasumi blankly cut her off.

"… Helluva' nap," Mori muttered jokingly, despite her lack of expression not wavering. "Maybe the word I was going for is… _disoriented_."

She paused, before blinking rapidly. Miwa couldn't help but take note of a slight crinkle to her eyebrows. "My mind keeps flashing back to the invasion."

"Does anything hurt?" The nurse asked worriedly, just as Mori shuffled side to side in the hospital wheelchair. " _Maybe you should stay behind for today_ …"

" _No_ , nothing hurts," Mori cut the woman off semi-politely. "My head's just acting weird."

( _"Having a gunner on either side would be for the best at the moment, but Mori isn't—"_ )

"…What do you mean, ' _flashing back to the invasion_ '," Miwa muttered questioningly. "You mean when you got stabbed?"

' _No tact whatsoever.'_

Mori shrugged, attempting to push the wheelchair forward to the door on her own. "The entire invasion in general."

Her efforts proved to be unsuccessful, as she only had access to one arm. Her left arm stuck in a sling with bandages covering the shoulder, more bandages felt on her torso, and gauze over her right thigh.

"…Wait, mom." Mori began, turning to Kasumi questioningly as said woman began to push the chair. They exited the room with little issue, and she twisted in her chair as best she could to face her mother. "Earlier, you called Miwa… ' _Miwa-kun_ '…?"

Kasumi nodded, pushing her daughter out of the room with Miwa walking not too far behind them. "Yes, I did."

Mori looked as if her worldview was shattering for no apparent reason. "… _When'd you two become acquainted_?"

"While we were in the hospital," Kasumi patiently elaborated, a small smile pulling at her lips as they slowly trudged down the hall. "Miwa-kun was forced to share a hospital room with you after the attack, due to the number of patients."

Mori froze, before turning to the grumpy teen as best as she could while still sitting in the chair.

"I'm only a **_little_** sorry about this, but I completely forgot in the first place that you got stabbed too."

"What do you mean, ' _you forgot_ '?" Miwa turned to her with a low tone, anger still just barely contained. " ** _You_** were the whole reason the two of us were in that situation in the first place!"

"Excuse me?" Mori bounced back, finally starting to act like herself again. "What about you, Mr. ' _I've-literally-got-a-black-Trigger-and-the-advantage-of-surprise-but-can't-even-bring-a-goddamn-Neighbour-to-their-knees_ '?! What the hell was that about anyway, you couldn't beat either of them!"

" _Shut it,_ that was the first time I've _ever_ used Fujin!" Miwa retorted, stepping closer to Mori threateningly. Kasumi came to a halt and stepped back from the wheelchair, watching the two teens argue nonsensically in slight amusement and exasperation. "And what were **_you_** doing?! Running around with a C-rank Trigger with two black Triggers chasing you?! Did you think you'd get out of that incident completely without consequence, or what?!"

"Oh, _shove it_!"

"If you can get into that much trouble while escorting C-ranks, _I wouldn't even trust you in a kitchen_!" Miwa continued, which clearly struck an indignant chord in Mori.

"I can **_so_** cook, you _dipshit_!" She yelled while reaching up to try and slap the side of his head with her free hand, to no avail. "Get down here, I'll fuckin' show you ' _trustworthy_ '!"

" _You can't even reach my head, is that it?_ " Miwa muttered mockingly. " _Are you so short that you need me to sit down on the floor to get to your height?_ "

" _I'm in a wheelchair,_ you insensitive asshole!" Mori's indignant voice rose to a near shriek. "And for your information, considering my age and gender, I'm pretty fucking tall!"

"I'm still taller than you, **_shorty_**."

" _Ooh_ , did the quality of our insults regress back to third grade?!" Mori shot back, expression shifting into something more mocking. " _Reeeeeaaal fuckin' mature,_ ** _Miwa_**!"

Kasumi cleared her throat pointedly, much to the embarrassment of the two teens.

"…Are you two finished? If not, please tell me how long I'll have to wait."

Looking around, you could see two nurses down the hall, watching the argument with a horrified kind of fascination. Once they saw that both teens noticed their staring, they embarrassedly ran around the nearest corner in a hurry to avoid their gaze.

Mori's mouth pressed into a thin line, her cheeks flushing in mortification as she slumped in the chair. "… _Sorry_."

Miwa buried his face in his scarf, staying silent as he pointedly looked away from them.

Kasumi breathed a sigh of relief, taking a step back forward to take hold of the wheelchair handles. "Please do not let it happen again, we're almost out of here."

"…Sorry for snapping," Mori dully apologized, embarrassment taking it's sweet, sweet time to fade away. " _I'm just wound up_."

Miwa gave a huffy noise in response, which she assumed would be the closest thing to him accepting her apology that she'd get.

Kasumi glanced around in observation, the group of three finally reaching the hospital gates. "…Did Jin-kun leave?"

" ** _Jin was here?!_** " Mori jolted, snapping up in her chair. Though she soon regretted the action as a sharp pain shot down through her body, causing a pained hiss of air to make it past her clenched teeth. "Ow, fuck _fuck fuck,_ ** _ow_**."

"Idiot." Miwa muttered, the two teens blissfully unaware of the looming shadow behind them.

" ** _Quite a lineup we've got here!_** "

Mori shrieked, jumping in her chair and yelping in pain not too long afterwards, while Miwa only jolted out of surprise.

"Ow, ow, _ow ow_ ** _ow ow_ —**"

" _Don't do that!_ " Miwa growled, spinning around and managing to cuff Jin in the side of the head harshly.

Jin laughed, rice cracker bag crinkling in his grip as he stepped back. "You two didn't see me?"

"Obviously _not_ ," Mori choked out, clutching her stomach in pain. "Long time no fucking see, Jin."

"Ah, I lost the '- _san_ '." Jin lamented. "I nearly forgot that you got mad at me from before."

Mori squinted. "…You're _damn lucky_ there are no stairs nearby."

"I suppose," Jin nodded, ignoring Miwa and Kasumi's confused glances. "But you also can't get up to kick me, can you?"

Mori lashed out with her left, _cast-free_ leg, and nailed him in the side of the shin.

Jin's smile never wavered even as he flinched, although everyone around well aware of the fact that it probably hurt Mori more than him. "You shouldn't stress yourself, Four-eyes."

"I'm _fine_ ," She huffed, already slightly out of breath. "But moving on… Why did you come here anyway, Jin?"

"Ah, I've got a little errand to do." He chuckled. "Kasumi-san, I apologize, but do you think I could borrow four-eyes for a bit?"

-0-

The battle was easy.

Yuma actually felt bad for Satori and Utagawa, having their chance to be commentators cut so short, but he didn't feel the need to look down on their opponents and hold back against them.

Didn't matter how any rookies saw it as him crushing them, this was him taking them seriously. If only A-rank agents could understand that, well.. Yuma didn't particularly care about that.

Not to mention with all of the training he and Chika had been doing, they were leagues above these teams. There just wasn't much of a competition.

It was over in—nearly seconds.

 ** _"Wha—?!"_** Taketomi stuttered. **_"What a shocking ending! Sniper agent Amatori demolished that whole building with her Ibis instantly! Is she allowed to be that powerful?!"_**

 ** _"Counting the survival points, that's 8 points right off the bat,"_** Utagawa observed in slight surprise. **_"They're not wasting any time."_**

 ** _"They jumped to 12th place in just one match that lasted mere SECONDS!"_** Taketomi shrieked. **_"They're next opponents are… Arafune squad, for 10th place, and… Suwa squad, in 8th place!"_**

"No biggie!" Shiori cheered, holding out two hands for her teammates to high-five once they were back in the operator room. "We had this in the bag!"

Yuma nodded, giving a small smile to them. "Good job, Chika, Shiori. That was fun."

Chika rubbed the back of her head sheepishly with her gloved hand. "Thank you for directing me, Shiori-san. I couldn't have done it without your help."

"Ah, you guys are too good for me!" She grinned, hand resting on the doorknob as she prepared to leave. "Jin said he'd be back in time to watch, we should find him before we head back to Tama—"

The door barely cracked open, before an unfamiliar voice sounded out through the area.

" _Damn overconfident rookies._ "

Shiori paused, standing perfectly still in the doorway as she turned her head around and away from her teammates.

There were two C-ranks standing in the hallway, one of them scowling with their hands stuffed into their pockets while clicking their tongue. " _Honestly_ , they look like they're in grade school. They definitely cheated to get to B-rank, I'm sure of it now."

"Hey, _man_ …" The other one muttered nervously, lingering behind his friend. "Not right now… _Is this really the time for this…_?"

"No, _I think right now is a perfect time_." Shiori smoothly cut in, pleasant, closed-eye smile not fading as she stepped out and into the hallway. " ** _What were you just about to say regarding my teammates_**?"

Yuma and Chika tried to peer around Shiori curiously, but she stubbornly stood in the middle of the doorway.

The nervous C-ranker jolted, but the other one only turned to face her with squared shoulders.

"Listen, I've had a friend of mine trying to get to B-rank for nearly a _year_." He growled, trying to seem more threatening than he actually was. "I'm just calling bullshit on the fact that all of your stupid team made it in less than a goddamn month. It's obvious to anyone that has a brain, **_you guys cheated_**."

" _Oh_?" She curiously began. "And pray tell, how on earth do you cheat in a _battle_? Please, _give me your honest opinion._ " Her tone was dripping with sarcasm, and if he had half a brain, he would've run away at this point.

The other teen shivered at her dark tone. "Dude, _we should just_ —"

" ** _Gladly_**." His friend ignored him, stepping closer to Shiori. "All of the rank battles, solo or not, are in a Trion. Simulated. Battleground. By tweaking a few Trigger settings, bribing a few of the engineers, artificially enhancing the Trion body, I'm sure it'd be _easy_ to fake any of the so-called- _talent_ you rookies ' _have_ '. _I'm just calling it like I see it,_ ** _there's no way that some middle schooler-shrimps like them can even have a quarter of the talent that they're showing_**."

Shiori cocked her head, and Yuma and Chika took the opportunity to step out of the operators room to face the trainees on their own.

"Do you want to have a solo rank war right now then?" Yuma offered, expression carefully blank. "You can see _up close_ if I'm cheating or not."

"Hell no," The trainee scoffed. "That's how you racked up so many points, huh? Taunting and baiting other rookies into stealing their points, _figures_."

"You're wrong," Chika objected softly, taking a step forward. "Yuma would never do something like that. Please don't speak about things you would _never_ understand."

His dark glare shifted over to the young girl, but she didn't dare flinch. "And **_you_**." He growled. "Lucky little girl, inheriting monster levels of Trion. It's all because of the luck of the draw, you're not special at all. But you shoot a hole in the side of the building like the _dumb klutz you probably are, and all of a sudden you have people rolling out the red carpet!_ You've probably had a **good life** , people throwing themselves at your feet, just because of something you were **_born_** with!"

Chika unwillingly took a step back at that.

( _"It's all my fault he's gone!"_

 _"I… Don't want to run anymore. It's all because of me, that the people around me keep disappearing…"_ )

Yuma's stare darkened and shifted into something more resembling a glare. Shiori wasn't too far behind, both hands drawn up to crack her knuckles. _Loudly_.

"Not to mention your damn _team captain_!" He continued, unaware of the quickly rising tension. His friend was already making his way down the hall and away from the scene nervously, wide eyes trained on his friend just as he rounded the nearest corner.

"God knows where she is, skipping out on the first rank wars match! Usually, I'd say that she's just underestimating the other teams and didn't show up to flaunt your power, but with how quickly you finished that match, skipping out wasn't necessary in the least. She could have just stood there and it would've had the _same effect_!" His eyes narrowed challengingly. "But if I have one other thing that comes to mind, it's this…"

He leaned over to Shiori, who was closest to him as his voice lowered.

"… ** _She was just fucking scared, wasn't she?_** "

Yuma's hand twitched violently, Scorpion tingling underneath his skin.

Chika's bangs shadowed her eyes, and a strange gleam made it's way into Shiori's eyes as her hand clenched.

"She's probably the _weakling_ of the team!" He yelled, taking their silence as confirmation for his previous statement. "Can't even compare to the two other teammates, and skipped out because she was _too embarrassed to even be here!_ ** _I swear to god—!_** "

But they didn't even have the opportunity to move forward to attack.

A wattle bottle spun through the air, before hitting the C-rank in the back of the head with a well-deserved 'THWACK'.

Yuma blinked as the C-rank leaned forward, eyebrows pinching in surprise as his hand lifted to the back of his head.

"Wh—?"

" ** _What the fuck is going on here?_** "

-0-

My eyes were drawn together in irritation, eyes fixated on the C-rank still standing in front of my teammates with a fierce scowl. As he spun around to yell at me though, he rapidly paled at the sight of the IV drip attached to my wheelchair.

Everyone in the hallway seemed to be frozen, stuck in time staring at me in a mixture of shock and disbelief.

Jin was behind me, hands resting loosely on the wheelchairs handles as he gave everyone a nonchalant, carefree smile. Miwa was standing beside him, eyes glaring at the trainee.

(… _I feel bad that we kind of left mom behind, but we can't really bring her into Border HQ without permission. I still don't_ ** _really_** _know why Miwa followed us though, it's sort of obvious that he'd prefer_ ** _anyone's_** _company over Jin and I's_.)

Wait, why is no one moving?

"Hey, C-ranker," I called out dully, eyes narrowed.

" ** _Scram_**."

He obliged, maybe just a little too eager to leave than he probably should've been.

There was a long pause after the two trainees scrambled away, eyes still lingering on the hallway they left from.

"… _Do I look that scary_?" I wondered out loud, just before Jin let out an amused chuckle. "He _really_ scrambled to his feet there."

"It's just your normal face, don't worry about it."

I turned to him, right arm reaching around the back of my chair to whack him in the side. "Did you just call me scary, bastard? No _wonder_ women hate you."

My three teammates remained still.

Jin stepped back from my chair, both to avoid my hit, and to give me space.

He waved both hands in the air, shaking them out a little for effect as he gave them a grin.

"… ** _Surprise_** …?"

Chika's eyes were wide as she took the first shaky step towards me.

"… _Mori_?"

I blinked, before sighing and reaching out with my right arm, moving my left arm to the side to shift the cast out of the way.

"… I know you all probably want to scream my head off for what I did… But could I please have a hug first? _I feel like shit._ "

There was a beat of silence, just before all three of them launched themselves at me.

"Ow, ow—Watch the cast—!"

"You moron," Shiori mumbled with a small grin, arms latched around all three of us as tears dripped down her cheeks. "Who says we can't do both?"

"I'm _probably_ going to kill you later," Yuma punched me in the side lightly with what little room he had. "Prepare yourself."

-0-

"…Still, why is _he_ here?"

After what felt like hours of sinking into the hug that my team was giving me, everyone composed themselves as Shiori rushed the six of us into the operator room, playfully punching Jin for not telling them that I would wake up today.

"— _I thought it'd make for a nice surprise_ —" He mumbled without a care as Shiori tugged on his cheeks.

They left my wheelchair parked in a corner, Chika rushing around to get enough chairs for everyone. Miwa only leaned against the wall, far away from Yuma as he stared off into space.

Which leaves us to the present.

"Whoa, did you guys just get moved into here?" I glanced around the room as easily as I could manage confined to the chair. "It's practically empty."

" _Don't try to change the subject_ ," Yuma murmured, leaning against the side of my chair with a grin. "You guys have got _quite_ a lineup here, I'm surprised you didn't attract any attention on your way."

"That's what I said earlier," Jin nodded. " _See_ , so many different personalities."

"Miwa-baka, why **_did_** you follow?" I asked curiously, taking slight amusement in the disbelieving snort that Yuma made at the nickname. "You don't exactly get along with Jin or myself…. In fact, I'd bet that you like my mom more than me."

"That's because she's not _irritating_ to be around," Miwa muttered, and I ignored the familiar twitch my eye made. "But I followed you guys… Because I don't trust Jin with an _injured_ person."

I blinked.

Just before a grin stretching my face as I turned to Jin menacingly.

Jin, _who had a mildly offended expression_.

"That's true," I commented. "I wouldn't trust him either."

Miwa then turned to me, the bottom half of his face still hidden by his scarf. " ** _You_** , on the other hand, I wouldn't even trust with a _cheese grater_."

I frowned, giving him a slightly irritated side-eye. "Dude, lay off on the insults."

"Don't count on it, _shorty_."

"I see this is how the _great_ captain of the No. 7 squad spends his time," I taunted, watching him out of the corner of my eye. "Picking on middle schoolers. And do I have to mention, once again, that I'm actually above average height for my age and gender?"

"Children, _children_ ," Jin cut in. "Bantering again—?"

The two of us spun around in unison. "Shut it, old man."

He twitched. "' _Old man_ '…?"

"Is this how you three have been interacting all morning?" Yuma asked in slight amusement. "You must've killed the nurses."

"Actually, Kasumi-san was with us up until we got to the door to HQ," Jin added. "We need to bring four-eyes back to the hospital in a few hours though, they said they wanted to take the stitches out tomorrow."

I froze, turning to him with an expression filled with just a bit of dread. "…Is the average stab patient supposed to have stitches in for _that long_ …?"

" _Nope_!" He cheerfully replied. "But It's not as if you and Miwa were injured by the average mugger. On top of that, Miwa's a top tier agent from Border, and you're an agent yourself. The doctors wanted to make sure that they weren't cutting any corners with two of the people protecting their city."

"About that!" Shiori cut in. "It's a little late to mention, but nobody really knows about… _You being hospitalized_."

I paused. "…They _don't_?"

"No, it was kept a secret from the public." Chika shook her head, sitting beside me on the other side from Yuma. "Border figured that Miwa wouldn't want to be pitied, so they kept it hidden from the public… and your injuries were tied in with his, so they've been keeping quiet about the incident as a whole. In addition, if they told them that you two were injured, Border's Bail out function would be criticized, and they'd have to explain black Triggers to them, which would be more of a hassle than the rest of it."

"…That makes sense, I guess." I nodded to myself. "Does _anybody_ know?"

"Both of your parents, everyone at Tamakoma, Miwa squad," Shiori counted down on her fingers. "Kazama squad, Midorikawa, Tachikawa squad, all of the higher-ups, and Azuma-san. Those who heard the actual… conversation over the communicators is limited to the directors, Azuma-san, Kazama-squad, Tamakoma-1, Miwa, and Chika…"

"That's a relatively short list," I muttered. "Anyway, thanks for being an angsty brat that doesn't want any pity, Miwa-baka. Although I don't really care if people know I got injured or not."

"Are you going to _keep_ calling me that?" He muttered dryly, which I summarily ignored.

"When can I get out of the wheelchair?" I asked Jin reluctantly. "I wanna fight in our next match…"

"Whoa, whoa, _already_?" He muttered. "…You can be out in a day minimum, and _then_ they'll probably tell you to use crutches."

I groaned melodramatically, slumping in the chair with my head in my hands. Yuma chuckled from beside me, and I would have jabbed him in the side if he wasn't on my left side.

"…I think I'll leave _now_." Miwa muttered irritatedly, momentarily distracting everyone. "At this point, I can trust Amatori or Usami to not drive the walking- _safety-_ ** _hazard_** into a wall."

"Gee, thanks for worrying about my well-being," I quipped sarcastically, waving lazily at him as my voice lowered to a whisper that he could probably still hear. " _Dick_."

" ** _Shorty_**."

" _Come up with some new insults, idiot!_ "

( ** _"—Jin is coming over here to back us up. He told us not to tell you, but I need you to take the C-ranks to the rendezvous point—"_** )

( _My head hurts_.)

-0-

I hummed a tune under my breath, my eyes shut as I felt my wheelchair being pushed along.

"There's someone around that corner, we should turn the other way over here."

Jin was putting his side effect to good use and steering us through the building to avoid anybody, while Shiori pushed my wheelchair. I felt sleepy, so I shut my eyes and rested against the back while everyone else walked.

"…Where are we going again?" I grumbled, possibly cutting someone off ( _I don't think I did, but_ ** _who knows_** _at this point_ ).

"Back to the Tamakoma branch," Chika replied, voice sounding out from somewhere to the left of me. "Are you alright with seeing Konami, Karasuma, Kizaki, Yotaro, and Rindou-san before we bring you back to the hospital…?"

"Please," I politely muttered, slumping further into my chair as I blearily opened my eyes. "I need to apologize."

"…You know, once we get back… _Everyone's going chew your head off._ " Yuma warned me, before turning to Jin. "Did I use that phrase correctly?"

The solo agent gave him a thumbs up with one hand, holding out his signature bag of fried rice-crackers with the other. His mouth was stuffed with said fried-snack.

"I _should_ be prepared for that," I responded before my expression dropped the more I thought about it. "I'm not though."

"Mori—" Chika hesitated. "…Big sister, can... The two of us talk later?"

The ' _big sister_ ' earned a few looks from Shiori and Jin that I didn't catch.

I paused, before nodding. "It's the least you deserve."

"I think _I_ deserve a talk too," Yuma commented, hiding the seriousness of the statement behind a childish pout. "C'mon, _after_ everything else's done."

"Sure, sure," I murmured. "Once everything else… _is done_."

"Still, you gave us a _real_ scare there, Miku-chan~!" Shiori punched me in the shoulder lightly, before her hand returned to her spot on the chair handles. "If you do anything like that ever again, I'll have to go over there to drag you back myself!"

"…I'm sorry," I apologized, probably one of the many apologies to come. "I'll try not to do it again."

" _Trying isn't good enough_ , you need to just need to not do it!" She scolded. " ** _…Although I'd prefer that we just don't get into a situation like that ever again_**."

I laughed, completely unaware of Jin and Yuma.

Yuma's gaze dropped to the ground, and a shadow of guilt passed over Jin's eyes.

Unseen by a single person around.

"That'd be nice," I muttered. "It was very tiring. And I don't want someone to get hurt because of me ever again."

Shiori mock gasped, the only one of the group that seemed to be in the mood to banter. "Is Miku-chan feeling guilty for what happened to Miwa? I wouldn't have guessed by how much you two _argued_ —!"

"He's not a bad guy," I defended, before pausing. "Never mind, _he's a dick_. But he had a point."

( _"What I know, is that you have a goddamn little sibling that you're leaving behind."_ )

"A point about what?" Chika unexpectedly spoke up, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I shook my head, just as my ears registered the sound of rushing water and I noticed the Tamakoma building right in front of us. "Nothing."

Shiori gestured off towards the door just up ahead. "Yuma, could you—?"

Jin stepped ahead before anyone could move, opening the door with a flourish. "After you."

His smug smirk didn't even make me as irritated as I thought it would.

"Thanks," I nodded to him as Shiori steered me over the door, my eyes trained on the threshold.

Everyone made their way inside, taking off their shoes before they made their way into the house.

"— _Strawberry pie_ this time!"

"…Not a meat pie? Savoury pies are always better…"

( _Konami? Karasuma-senpai?_ )

"You don't get it! Strawberries are the perfect food, they're red, and they're a fruit! Besides, Torimaru got to choose what you made last time!"

( _…I'm not ready for this._ )

"Whatever it is, the mighty Yotaro will eat it all!"

( _I don't think I can face them._ )

"You will **_not_** —!"

The door swung open, Shiori smiling as she stepped aside, not hiding me from sight in the slightest.

" _Guess_ who we brought!"

I felt all of my blood freeze in my veins.

Konami, who was situated in front of the couch, was standing up with one foot placed on the coffee table, and her arm outstretched to indignantly point at Karasuma.

Kizaki, who was leaning against the wall across from us and ready to walk to the kitchen, exasperatedly fond eyes trained on the rest of his team.

Karasuma, sitting down in the chair across the coffee table from Konami with a bland expression.

Yotaro, who was perched proudly on Raijinmaru beside the couch Konami was standing beside.

Rindou, slouched over into the couch beside Karasuma with a mug of coffee in hand.

All of which froze in their spot, wide eyes swinging around to meet my own gaze in shock.

(… _What do I say?_ )

"…Hi guys," I choked out, my voice piercing through the heavy silence that had blanketed the room. The sound was grating, even to my own ears. "…Long time no see."

I had less than half a second to scream before Konami and Yotaro launched themselves at me with unintelligible shrieks.

" _Wha_ —!?"

" **YOU MORON!** " Konami yelled, digging her fist into my temple painfully. " ** _DUMB KOUHAI!_** "

I was about to object before a small elbow jabbed me in the side, nearly causing me to choke.

" _Dumb kouhai_!" Yotaro repeated, tears leaking out as he clutched my (thankfully) left leg.

" _I'm_ —" I tried to cut in.

" **NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!** " Konami punched me in the side of the head, other arm looping around to strangle me. I assumed everyone else stepped back, as I received no help in getting her off of me. " **THAT WAS DUMB OF YOU, MORI!** "

" _I know_ —"

"Dumb kouhai!"

"I SWEAR TO GOD—!"

"Please— _Let go_ —!"

"DUMB KOUHAI!"

Just when I thought I'd never get away, a sharp yank tore Konami away and allowed me a moment to breathe.

"Oh dear god!" I gasped, giving a deep inhale.

"Konami, don't kill her when we just got her back," Kizaki muttered, dropped her a meter away from me. " _And Mikumo_ —"

He towered over me menacingly.

"…Don't do that again."

I gulped.

"… _I won't_."

He gave a satisfied nod, before patting me on the head gently. I blinked in surprise, eyes wide as my hair was slowly messed up.

"I hope you heal quickly," He said. "We were _all_ worried about you."

I paused, the statement provoking a thought that only faintly occurred to me before.

"When did she get released from the hospital? _When did she even wake up?!_ " Konami turned to Shiori and Jin accusingly.

"Well, she's not exactly released yet," Jin shrugged. "I need to bring her back really soon… But she'll be able to go by tomorrow."

"And why's she in a wheelchair?!" Yotaro complained, waving a fist around in the air. "And the— The needle thing!"

"IV drip, and it's just for now, she'll be using crutches by tomorrow. Healing needs time, Yotaro."

" _Aw_ … But—she looks **_fine_**!"

" _Yotaro_."

"…Still, why didn't you tell us, Jin?" Konami muttered, arms crossed. "Going around behind the scenes, as per usual?"

Jin gave a cheery thumbs up, a grin forming simultaneously.

" _Yup_!"

"I can't stand you sometimes."

' _Why?_ '

"…' _Why_ ', what?"

It took me a moment to realize I had spoken out loud.

"Why… Why are you all so worried? _Why were you_?"

Shiori jolted, taking a tentative step towards me. "Miku-chan, you got _really_ badly hurt—!"

"But I'm _fine_ ," I stressed, my eyes dropping to the floor. "Jin should've told you all, _I'd live_. So everything is fine— Why do you all look like you've gone through so much pain? I just— _I don't get it at all!_ "

My voice rose to a near-shout at the end, and I regretted the words the second they came out of my mouth.

( _Mom told me already, people were worried about me. But— I just don't get it. Why would they be, I'm just… Me. That's all I've ever been, and it's never good enough._ )

I didn't need to look up to glance at any of their expressions. I know I've said something wrong.

( _Why can't I ever just understand what everyone wants from me? It'd make things so much easier if I just_ ** _fucking_** _knew what to say_.)

"Maybe you misunderstood," Kizaki began slowly. "… _Being alive_ … Is different than being unharmed."

"You worried all of us, it doesn't matter what Jin said," Konami murmured. "… I just wish I could've been over there to stop you from doing something so stupid."

" _Mikumo_."

The new voice completely took me by surprise, and I couldn't stop my head from jolting up. And for a brief moment, before I snapped my gaze back to the floor, green met gold.

"…You were injured," Karasuma began, standing right in front of me.

( _When did he walk closer to me?_ )

"You worried all of us."

" _I know_." I muttered, my voice nearly breaking. "I'm sorry."

( _Mom already told me that everyone was worried, but why? When and why did I become someone… Worth being worried about?_ )

"…That's another thing we'll have to work on," He mumbled. "Not to make self-sacrificing strategies when someone's life is on the line… Let's avoid that."

"I don't know what else I could have done," A flash of Chika's wide eyes filled with confusion and betrayal went through my mind. "She could've _died_."

" ** _You_** could've died." He retorted, and tears filled my eyes. "Look, I understand that this may be a foreign concept to you. It's been startlingly clear that you don't understand how much all of us care about you at times, but we need you to get this through your head before this happens again."

He crouched down, legs bent as he kneeled closer to the ground and stared right at me. I couldn't avoid his gaze without shutting my eyes, but I couldn't bring myself to as he began to speak.

"In Tamakoma… Without a doubt, we're all family," He tapped me on the forehead before his hand shifted to ruffle my hair. "That feeling that you got when _Chika_ was in danger? We all feel that when we were protecting the two of you during the invasion. It may be hard, but you need to understand… That you're our _friend_. **_Our family_**."

I buried my face in my hands to hide the tears leaking out as he reached his arms around me slowly.

 ** _"Never do that again."_**

-0-

" _Are you ok…_?"

Mori sniffed, wiping her eyes with her sleeve messily. "Fine."

"I didn't expect this to be how the surprise went…" Shiori lamented. "I didn't mean to make you cry, Miku-chan…"

"I wasn't cryin'."

"That's a terrible lie, Mori," Yuma muttered, before waving carelessly and walking away. "I'm gonna go review some of the logs for the other teams, I'm bored."

"Already, Yuma?" Shiori said. "We should do it as a group when Mori comes back tomorrow though…"

"No problem in getting a head start." He called back nonchalantly, disappearing around the corner.

"…I think he's upset that he didn't get to talk to Miku-chan," Shiori muttered, although Mori wasn't sure if she was supposed to hear the statement.

"…We should be off now!" Jin cut in. "I'll bring four-eyes back to the hospital, I don't think she should be out and about for the whole day."

"Don't strain yourself," Karasuma told her just before Jin shut the door behind us.

Mori blinked quickly, a similar quote running through her mind.

( _"…Don't push yourself, either."_ )

"Well then," Jin grabbed the handles of the wheelchair. "Should we be off now?"

Mori leaned back into the chair, allowing herself to relax just slightly after the emotionally straining day. "As long as you don't run me into a wall, old man."

"I'm only 19…" He mumbled, driving her across the bridge from land to the branch office. "I'm not even **_close_** to being _old_ …"

"Well unlike what Miwa-baka said, I'm not short. It's all just comparative since he's taller than me. And you're older than us so you're an old man." Mori snarked. " _Keep walking_."

-0-

I was tired.

I wasn't lying before, all I wanted was to just lie down and try and get some sleep, despite the coma I had woken up from earlier today.

I was just so tired. The day was long, and no amount of talking with anyone at Tamakoma, apologizing to Chika and Karasuma, or kicking Jin could make me feel better.

Kicking Jin made the air feel more lighthearted, but it tired me out and it hurt at times to move.

Talking, in general, was just tiring, and it's even worse with the heavy air around us.

I had already apologized to Karasuma, and he seems to have already told me what needed to be said. It helped a bit, but crying like that takes a lot out of anyone, emotionally… So I also feel a little worse.

And no matter how many times I apologized to Chika, it never seemed like enough.

( ** _"I will be available for you to talk to after the invasion."_** )

My eyes snapped open, and I rolled over to bury my face in a pillow.

(… _I can't sleep_.)

It is relatively early in the day to actually fall asleep… But there's nothing else to do.

( _I can't sleep without seeing something that's not there_.)

My hands clenched around the folds of the blankets.

( ** _"Then die. Unlike the others, your worth is non-existent."_** )

That was dumb. _It was_ _so,_ ** _so_** _dumb_ , getting so worked up about something like this, they were just Neighbours, for god's sake.

But now that everything was all over, everything seemed to finally hit me.

( ** _"You can't beat it, Miku! Run and defend the C-ranks!"_** )

Too weak.

( ** _"No, I think you and Chika need the most help right now…"_** )

Too weak.

( ** _"…I apologize. I will do my best to be quicker next time."_** )

 _There won't be a next time._ You're long gone now.

( **" _So why are you giving up before we've barely left the starting line?!"_** )

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so, _so sorry, Chika_ …

( ** _"So you choose death."_** )

I don't want to die. I never, _ever_ wanted to die.

( ** _"You're not our target, regardless."_** )

I need to run. But I'm not fast enough. _I'm never fast enough._

( ** _"I'm sorry."_** )

 _Please don't leave_. I don't want to hear an apology, just, please… **Come back**.

( ** _"I'd imagine. But I'm certain this is all your fault."_** )

 _It's all my fault._

( _"…Sorry… But if you're hearing this, it means I did something dumb, Ri."_ )

Tears would have welled up in my eyes, but I pushed down the stubborn sting. I can't deal with that right now.

( _"I set this voice message to reach you for tomorrow. I figured that if there was a message, you'd just stop reading, or throw your phone at a wall. But I guess… This also means that I didn't come back."_ )

The memory of the day I listened to his last message continued to ring in my head.

( _"Sorry I lied, but I can't bare for Chika to continued to live like this. If there was a way for her to stop running away, you know that I just had to go after it. You and Chika always knew, if there was something I wanted… I was the type to pursue it. I know that pissed you off at times, but it really couldn't be helped…"_ )

I don't want to hear this. I don't want to hear him say it again.

( _"I've thought about it over and over though, what I wanted to tell you during this message for after I left. But I think that it's easier to go simple, so you can understand right away."_ )

You shouldn't have left in the first place, you moron.

( _"Please take care of Chika for me. You two are my precious little sisters, so please take care of yourself too. Someday, I hope you'll make friends of your own… People that'll care for you, like you do for Chika. I know you always said I was a reliable person, but I guess it's goodbye now."_ )

Why would you say something like that… once you've already left? It hurt.

( _"So, Ri. You and Chika… Take care of each other for me, would you?"_ )

… I hate you.

My eyes, which had unknowingly closed, snapped opens the sound of the door clicking echoed within the empty room.

"Hello~ Are you still awake in there?"

I jolted, my arms whipping around to push myself up in my bed in a flash. My injuries protested at the movement though, and I let out a low hiss of pain as I sunk back down into the bed.

"Oh, don't mind me too much. No need to get up or anything.

My eyes trailed to the door hesitantly, the voice unfamiliar and foreign to my ear.

"… Who are you?"

The auburn haired girl laughed lightly, closing the door behind herself as she stepped into the room. "Just an operator passing by, no worries."

' _Operator…?_ '

I sat up in my bed, slowly this time, and gave her a curious expression. "… Did I do something wrong?"

"No _no_ , nothing at all," She waved off, sitting down beside my bed. "Hm… How do I phrase this…?"

She thought for a moment, and I held my breath in apprehension, just before she stuck out her hand to me cheerily.

"I'm Kunichika Yuu, Tachikawa squad operator," She greeted airily. "Since Izumi doesn't have any memories from being a cube, Tachikawa-san doesn't really care as long as everyone's safe, and Yuiga wasn't around at the time, I've decided that on behalf of our entire squad… I want to thank you."

I choked.

She paused, before gently taking my hand and shaking it for me. "Was that too direct? Sorry, but you looked so nervous that I had to get it out quickly. Thank you for saving Izumi and making sure he stayed hidden until the end of the invasion—"

"Wait, but I didn't do anything— _Nothing worth being thanked over!_ " I defended hastily, arms flailing slightly. "You don't need to thank me, Yoneya-senpai was already fighting against the Neighbour, everything would've been fine anyway—And I didn't even do much! _Replica was the one doing_ ** _everything_** , bringing out the Rabbit, giving me the seal, coming up with the plan—"

"But you were the one that went in to grab Izumi, weren't you?" Kunichika interrupted in a tone that I wouldn't dare talk back to, suddenly more serious that I would've given her credit for. "It doesn't matter what **_could_** _have happened_ , or else I'd be more worried about what would've happened if he was actually captured than I actually am. What does matter, is that you carried out the action in the end. And for that… I have to thank you. And I would thank Replica too, but HQ told me that… He was captured during the invasion."

"…' _Captured_ ' is a loose term," I muttered. "He was attacked and couldn't move on the Neighbour ship when they left."

"I see," She murmured. "…But I want to say it again. Thank you for saving my idiot teammate…" She trailed off with a giggle. "Although hopefully next time, he'll just avoid getting caught."

"That'd help." I dryly muttered, before realizing who I was talking to. Before I could panic though, a small giggle made it past her lips.

" _That'd help_ ," She repeated, reverting back to the carefree woman that had first walked through the door. "…By the way, what're you going to do with all of that stuff?"

I blinked. "What stuff?"

She pointed past me with a small smile, and my head swung around so quickly I think I heard my neck crack.

My eyes widened. " _Wha_ —?"

"…You've got _a lot_ of good friends, Mikumo."

I choked, reaching over to slowly gather all of the stuff on the table. "What is… _all of this stuff_?"

"Stuffed animals, books, fruit, _more books_ …" She paused with a small grin. "Who brought the headphones?"

"I dunno Kunichika-san, I was in a coma," I retorted, internally sighing in relief when she laughed.

"You're sassy, Mori-chan." She reached over to inspect the dog plushie from the pile of stuff that I was gathering onto my bed. " _You can call me Yuu-senpai_."

' _First name basis already?!_ '

"… _Alright_?" I conceded confusedly, picking up the boxed headphones as I allowed myself to get swept up in her pace. "It _is_ weird though… Not that I don't appreciate it. _But who would_ —?"

I flipped over the box before my eyes caught a small slip of paper taped to the side. My side effect let me scan the words in just over a second, and a small grin formed on my face.

" _Eh_? What's that?" She leaned over, putting the plushie back down on the bed. "Does it say who it's from?"

"Not really," I muttered, handing the box over to her. "…I didn't think that so many people would worry about me though, it's almost surreal."

( _I got a lot of gifts. The number of cards I got was slightly unsettling too, for me anyways… Was I really being that much of an asshole when I got myself landed in the hospital?_ )

The headphones were really nice. Blocks out nearly all sound from around you.

' _Don't be a moron again, you're giving people with side effects a bad name_.'

The plushie is super soft. I wonder where it's from.

' _Thanks for saving bullet brains. We should have a spar sometime. -Yosuke_ '

Chika and mom know all of my favourite books, but I'm not going to be in here long enough to read them all… I'll just bring them over to the branch. Or our operator room at HQ.

' _Please get better soon, big sister. -Chika_ '

A cookbook…? Where'd that come from?

' _Mikumo, get better soon! -Arashiyama squad_ '

…Oh. They got me something too… I feel a little embarrassed, they were probably really busy.

A stuffed bear… I think I've seen it before, but I can't remember where…

I pulled the small paper hastily taped to it's back.

' _I'm letting you borrow Akakunaru, one-time thing only! You better bring him back once you wake up!_ '

So many exclamation marks. And Konami forgot to write her name…

I paused.

A small bouquet of lilacs caught my eye, just five flowers wrapped up in clear wrapping with a thick green ribbon to tie it up.

…It was the same shade of green as my eyes.

(… _Huh_.)

-0-

"Ready to go?"

"I am **_so_** ready for this." I huffed, leaning on one crutch with my lips pressed into a thin line. " _Let's fuckin'_ ** _goooo_** —"

"Language," My mother lightly slapped the back of my head non-threateningly. "We're almost out."

A nurse nervously typed a few things on the computer, before turning to me. "Please remember, don't overwork yourself, avoid any strenuous activities, use your crutch if you're going to walk around for a while, and—"

"Yeah yeah, _I know_." I interrupted, just before I felt my mother's judgemental stare directed at my back. "… _Thank you for taking care of me_." I quickly tacked on the end.

"Time to go," Mom finally told me, walking alongside me towards the doors. "Are you feeling better than yesterday?"

"… _I think so_." I thought back to Kunichika. "I was feeling awful when Jin brought me back here, but I got better."

"That's good." She nodded, before looking ahead with a nonchalant expression. " _Now_ we can finally talk about whether you'll continue working at Border or not."

I froze.

After a moment where she noticed I had stopped walking, she turned back with a blank expression.

"…Did you think that I hadn't considered it?" She finally asked, and I tried to clear my mind and continue walking.

"I kind of forgot about it," I muttered. " _I shouldn't have._ "

"You _shouldn't_ have," She repeated, nodding along. "Regardless, I need to bring it up now. I've been thinking about it the entire time you've been unconscious."

My breath, for once, didn't get caught in my throat. I felt startlingly calm, considering how emotional I felt yesterday. " _And_?"

She paused, eyes straying to the side as if in thought.

"…I don't think you've ever been so happy somewhere. It's just… Never been something, where I've seen you be so happy to go somewhere that wasn't the Amatoris or our _own_ home."

I didn't even have time to cut in with a comment.

"The fact that it used to be your dream, to become a skilled Border agent, doesn't quite matter anymore for this," She continued. "I know you lost the spark that kept that dream going. I didn't think you'd ever be happy going to Border ever again… And for a few weeks before the invasion, I thought that I had been wrong. But during these past two weeks, I've seen people visit you, bringing gifts, cards, apologies for ' _letting you down_ '. And I know why you want to go there now."

She glanced down at the bag of gifts he was holding for me, the straps slung over her shoulder.

"…You want to keep going to Border… Because you've never gone somewhere else where people accepted you. You've never had that many friends, have you?"

My eyes were still lingering on the bag.

I couldn't help but feel like she was right. I wished so badly, that I still had the motivation left inside of me that pushed me to get better, to join Border, my childhood dream to help Chika and everyone in the city… But it's gone. It died the moment I listened to Rinji's last message on my phone that day, and I just kept refusing to acknowledge it.

"…You have another reason to move forward now, _don't you_?" Mom stated rather than asked.

( ** _"Yuma… no longer has a reason to live."_** )

Replica at one point had thanked me for giving Yuma a reason to live.

( _That wasn't exactly right though. They did something like that for_ ** _me_** _too, without either of us even knowing it_.)

"You should thank him," It was almost phrased like an order, but I didn't need that last push. "This is all because of him after all, isn't it…? I felt like I knew the moment you first spoke about your ' _new friend'_ to me."

She pulled my own bag off of my shoulders and waved me off.

I paused, before glancing back in the direction of our house. The way we had been walking earlier.

"Miwa and I ended up leaving you yesterday," I muttered, my eyes lingering in that direction. "Is it really ok to do it again?"

"We'll have time to chat later," Her eyes narrowed at me, although her lips curled into a soft smile. "You shouldn't put off talking to him any longer though… I'll call Chika over for dinner tonight, you can talk to her then."

And as best as I could with my crutch, I ran.

( _Thanks mom. I think… I know what I should do from now on_.)


	11. Dark On Me

Alright, this talk definitely couldn't have waited until after I was all healed and ready to run around like a maniac.

…But seriously, was this crutch necessary?

' _Yes_ ', a scolding voice that sounded _suspiciously_ like Replica echoed in my head. And like the mature teen I was, I mentally stuck my tongue out.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket, stumbling just slightly as I came to a sudden halt.

"C'mon, _C'mon_ , where are you…" I scrolled through my contacts furiously, ignoring any strange glances I received from other people on the sidewalk. "He's **_gotta_** know…! **_Aha_**!"

I slammed my thumb on the button so hard it almost hurt, but that hardly mattered.

" _Pick up, pick, up, pick up_ …."

A beep.

 ** _"Elite agent Jin here, how can I help you?"_**

"Jin, can you tell me where Yuma is?" I asked bluntly, hobbling over to lean against the nearest wall. "You probably already know, and I need to find him. _Now_."

 ** _"…Couldn't even wait 'till you got back to Tamakoma?"_** He mumbled questioningly. **_"You're impatient."_**

"I'm not impatient, this just needs to happen _A-S-A-P_. Give me directions or I'm calling Konami next."

 ** _"Wait, don't hang up on me!"_** I heard him chuckle, just before the tell-tale crunch from his favourite snack echoed through my phone speakers. **_"He told me he was going to take a walk a few minutes ago, lucky for you. He JUST left."_**

"Was it me being lucky, or did you just strongly advise him to take a walk?" I shot back in suspicion.

 ** _"Now now, no need to fret the details!"_** He laughed without a care. **_"As far as I could see, he was wandering over in the direction of the okonomiyaki place."_**

" _Okonomiyaki_?" I repeated with a hint of irritation. "Jin, there's more than one okonomiyaki place in Mikado. _Be_ ** _more_** _specific_."

 ** _"Oh, you know."_** The mental image of him waving off into a vague direction sprung to mind as he paused. **_"…Somewhere."_**

"Jin, _I swear to god if_ ** _you don't_** —"

A chime rung out from my phone, the sound startling me as I yanked the offending object away from my ear. One irritated look at the screen though, and a highlighted bubble of text appeared at the top.

' _Jin Yuichi has shared a location with you!_ '

"…Thanks, Jin." I reluctantly thanked before I positioned my thumb to hang up. "I'll treat you to something later, maybe ramen…?"

 ** _"No need, I was just helping out a kouhai. It was no big deal."_**

I tossed my phone into my pocket and with a deep breath…

I continued to run.

-0-

The phone rang lightly, the sound reverberating within the room.

Chika jolted, hand reaching out tentatively to lift the small speakers towards her ear. "Hello… You've reached Amatori Chika."

 ** _"Chika-chan."_**

Chika relaxed, the familiar voice over the phone echoing in her ear. "Kasumi-san, hello. How are you and big sister doing today?"

 ** _"Fine,"_** Kasumi answered pleasantly. ** _"How are you?"_**

"I'm good." Chika nodded despite the other woman not able to see the motion.  
 ** _  
"I apologize for springing this on you with such short notice…"_** Kasumi began. **_"But I'd like to invite you over to our house for dinner, and maybe a sleepover."_**

Chika blinked, sitting down slowly on the nearby couch. "Huh?"

The was a barely noticeable whistle of wind on the other end, which gave Chika the feeling that she had been taking this call while walking somewhere.

 ** _"I believe that Mori has something that she'd like to speak with you about, and I don't believe that you three have much time to put this off."_**

-0-

Yuma stared blankly, red eyes not breaking eye contact with me despite the searing hot grill in between us.

I inwardly sighed, and unwilling let my gaze drop to the floor as I blinked.

'… _How am I going to do this?_ '

He finally glanced away, poking the pancake sizzling on the grill. "…So, how's your day going?"

( _Weird. Tiring_. _Maybe better than yesterday, I don't know._ )

"It's alright," I took a small sip of my water. "How's yours?"

"Boring," He laughed dully. "Everyone seems to be doing something else. I had a few days where I went really quiet, and now everyone acts really guilty around me." He paused, and I took the opportunity to haphazardly shove the pancake into his plate. The movement was awkward with one hand, and it ended up landing on it's side. "…It's honestly kind of annoying, I wasn't the one that got hurt. _I barely even know what happened._ "

"They didn't fill you in?" I asked conversationally, shovelling my own serving of Okonomiyaki onto my plate. "It was messy, but there must've been something they could tell that you didn't _already_ know."

"Everyone kind of assumed I knew all I needed to know, I guess.." He glanced at me slowly, the two of us careful to keep this from blowing up more than we wanted it to. "But I also don't think that anyone _really_ knows what happened there. You're the only one that really understood what was going on, everyone else was just trying to help you."

There was an elongated period of silence, the chattering of other customers and the telltale sizzle of the grills being only background noise.

"It's really just a mess of misplaced pieces." I started, taking a deep breath. When I exhaled, the breath came out shaky. "So many things happened after I left with Kitora and Satori…" I thought for a moment. "Maybe we should just stick together for these things, everything went to **_shit_** just after we split up."

"You _do_ need someone to cover your back." He agreed, trying to take a bite of his okonomiyaki. It burnt his tongue, and he pulled the fork away from his mouth with a wince. "Are you feeling open enough to share what happened, or do I need to wait a little longer?"

"I didn't sprint through the streets with a crutch to find you, only to run away from the problem," I grumbled. "I'm just thinking about how to phrase this."

"Take your time," He joked while raising his cup to his mouth, the cold water soothing his burnt tongue.

I took a bite of my own meal, savouring the flavour and warmth as thoughts swirled around in my mind.

"… _Alright_." I swallowed, hand reaching out to fiddle with my chopsticks. "I should start at the beginning, shouldn't I."

"You should," He nodded, setting down his glass. "Because the only information I have, is when Jin told me you might die and Chika would get captured, and that was in the middle of the invasion. Everyone's been _awfully_ quiet, you know."

"…Sorry." I apologized shortly. "Even Chika didn't talk to you about it?"

"She's been training practically nonstop," He waved off, cutting a piece off of the savoury pancake in front of him. "But it doesn't matter much, it's probably easier if I hear it all at once. And I think you know more than anyone else about this."

"…So to start with, Kitora, Satori, Replica and I were heading towards the C-rankers," I began slowly, recalling the details of the battle as best as I could. "A bunch of Rabbits showed up, but we took care of them relatively easily. I had help from Satori, and Chika jumped in to fight the minute that Natsume was in danger. After that… I think that was the point where Karasuma-senpai and the others showed up."

"The rest of Arashiyama squad was… loosely kept up to date about that." Yuma licked all of the sauce off of his lips. "' _Loosely'_."

"Then the humanoid Neighbours showed up," I listed blandly. "I was obviously too weak to help hold off either of them or protect the trainees on my own, so Karasuma-senpai came to escort the rest of us back to HQ while everyone else stuck behind. The rest of it's a _bit_ of a blur, but it's not _really_ important."

" _It's not_?"

"It's not," I repeated dully. "We got to the HQ door, the one a bit farther from the building. An enemy black Trigger crushed the entrance, and then you and Jin showed up."

"I remember that," He leaned back in his seat with a carefree expression. "I beat the old man black Trigger. That was actually a pretty fun battle, if only it was under different circumstances."

"I'm glad you had fun," I replied genuinely, nodding lightly. "I didn't have that much fun, but the first Rabbit we took out together was a big rush."

"Oh, that was fun too," He agreed, watching the second batch of okonomiyaki cook against the metal sheet. "If only we could do that again, that was an amazing shot you did."

"The boost was so overpowered." I chuckled, before getting back on track. "After we ran away again, Karasuma stayed behind to hold off the black Trigger that crushed the entrance. I heard from Shiori that Kikuchihara-senpai and Utagawa-san ended up joining him, and Konami again later. Then, more Rabbits got teleported to us."

"…I just realized this." He cut in curiously. "But when did you stop using a '- _san_ ' with Shiori…?"

"It was too much of a hassle to say mid-battle," I leaned forward, straining to pat his cheek over the table. " ** _Focus_**."

" _Right, right._ "

"After that…" The figures flashed through my mind, bright smiles present on their faces. "Yoneya-senpai, Izumi-senpai, and Midorikawa-senpai helped us out and we managed to clear out most of the Rabbits. I think."

"Don't you get tired of saying '- _senpai_ ' all the time…? It's longer than '- _san_ '."

I pointedly ignored him. "Another black Trigger showed up. Midorikawa-senpai had to bail out, while Izumi-senpai and Yoneya-senpai told Chika and I to run away. We got chased around by a Rabbit for a while, but killed it in the end."

" _This whole story is very back-and-forth._ "

"It is, isn't it?" I sighed, my eyebrows drawing together as my brain ran through what happened next. "Chika insisted we go back to help them, and that's what we did. Izumi-senpai had been kidnapped by the Neighbour and got turned into a cube. Yoneya-senpai was holding the Neighbour and a Rabbit off, and we didn't know how long he would last by the time we got there."

"A black Trigger and a Rabbit at the same time?" Yuma whistled. "We should have spar sometime, he's probably better than last time."

"…I think this is where things got dicey." I muttered, and he immediately sobered up. "Replica made a Rabbit somehow, and with Chika and his help, I used the ' _blend_ ' seal to steal Izumi-senpai back. Then, the four of us ran away."

He didn't cut in with a comment to help lighten the mood, so I continued.

"Yoneya split up with us to go meet up with Miwa to protect the rest of the C-ranks, and Chika and I were planning to cut straight through the emergence area to get to HQ with Izumi-senpai, instead of going around to meet with the rest of the C-ranks. The black Trigger started to attack us again though, and we were almost cornered. I wasn't really thinking straight…" My eyebrows scrunched. "…But I switched Triggers with Chika, and I made her bail out."

A deafening silence reigned, and I slowly closed my eyes in preparation for the resulting lecture that this would get me.

( _I'm so tired of being lectured_.)

-0-

It didn't surprise Yuma as much as it probably should have.

It was somewhat surreal, having people all around him ducking to avoid his gaze, apologies spilling out the moment they met eyes with him, all because he and Chika were the closest to Mori out of everyone, barring her own mother.

( _It was tiring_.)

But he knew it was tiring for them too, so he never asked them what had happened in the first place. He had gotten a basic idea that Mori had messed up somehow, but he had zoned out when Chika was explaining to Kasumi-san.

( _No one seemed to realize that Yuma had no idea what had happened in the first place, except for Jin. But the man himself had probably avoided the details so Yuma could hear them from the source herself, so he didn't press the issue._ )

He didn't really have a clue, but everyone was mad at Mori for some reason. Mad, and yet all carrying regret for not stopping everything that had transpired. All he knew, was that she and Chika were together. Then, they weren't.

Chika was safe, but Mori wasn't.

Honestly, the only reason Yuma was mad at her, was because she got herself injured in the first place. Idiot got herself landed in a hospital, honestly.

( _If she waited for Yuma to cover her back, she would've been fine._ )

He didn't really care what had actually happened, no matter how curious he was. It didn't matter in the end, because Mori was still alive.

Except that wasn't what everyone else thought.

( _If Yuma stuck around to cover her back, she would've been fine._ )

People often forgot, Yuma did nothing but fight in a war for the larger part of his life. And before that, the only ones he had to speak with, were Yugo and Replica.

His social skills were absolute shit, beating Mori only by a small margin.

Then, everyone felt awful all of a sudden. Yuma watched silently, expressions dropping one by one as Mori wondered out-loud why they were so worried about her in the first place. Karasuma lectured her and tried to tell her that she mattered to all of them. Everyone at Tamakoma.

( _And yes, he understood everything they said. But didn't they see, Mori would never understand just by being told? Her worth, what they had all seen in her, she wouldn't understand why they cared until she saw it for herself_.)

Living life on a war's battlefield had done wonders to Yuma's social perspective.

Going back to the first point though— Yuma wasn't all that shocked. It was always a possibility, he had all the pieces.

Mori had always cared for Chika more than herself. She gave up on her dream for the younger girl after all.

Mori didn't have a high self-esteem, which brought in self-worth issues. And people that didn't think their lives were worth anything, believed that they had nothing to lose.

And sure, she'd shown on occasion that she had a (barely) functioning survival instinct, and didn't want to die (on purpose), but that didn't quite matter.

If Chika was in danger, Mori would give up her life a hundred times if she could. All to save Chika.

Hearing the truth about what happened during the invasion wasn't climactic.

It should have been expected, that's all.

(… _Why did this come as such a surprise to everyone else?_ )

-0-

I felt a light pressure on my forehead, the gesture making my eyes snap open in shock.

Yuma chuckled lightly, eyes suddenly seeming a lot more sullen than he'd been letting on since Mori had seen him since waking up.

Since the invasion.

"You look like you were expecting me to gat mad at you or something."

I blinked, suddenly overwhelmed by relief. Why? "…I— _Sorry_. I don't know what I was preparing myself for."

"It's fine, I get it." He leaned back, drawing his fist back from my forehead and slumping in his chair. "Ever since you woke up, everyone's been lecturing you. Getting upset. They want you to understand how _much_ you matter to us, but that's not how it works. I've been watching you for long enough to know, no matter how much we say, you won't see what we do." He paused, a sudden smug grin lightening the mood. "Then again, not to brag or anything, but I _am_ your _best friend_. _It's no wonder I'm the one that knows how your weird brain functions the most often_."

"…Sorry, but my _mom_ has you beat in that department," I jokingly admitted, setting my fork down with a near-silent ' _clatter_ '. "I just… I didn't know what I was doing. And I want everyone to understand that, that's why I've never been afraid to admit that I'm dumb. I don't think for a lot of the bigger decisions I make, and put too much thought into the little things. _That's just how I am_."

"Yeah, I know." He laughed, messily cutting the last pieces of his okonomiyaki into pieces with the edge of his fork, only barely succeeding. "You've up-front told me so many times, I was starting to get the idea that it was your motto."

"Could be."

"That's a _horrible_ motto to live by," He reached over to pat my shoulder. " _You should change it_."

I pointed at him with mock-grumpiness, the tension slowly leaking out of my shoulders. "You, my friend," I bit into a piece of the savoury pancake. "Need to stop being so _blunt_."

"My social skills are non-existent," Yuma shamelessly admitted, mouth half full of okonomiyaki as he spoke. His expression sobered up once again afterwards, though it was difficult to take him seriously with chipmunk cheeks full of food. "But _honestly_ , my dad's been one of the only people I could speak with for the bigger chunk of my life, Replica just behind him." Yuma swallowed, eyes glazing over as he stared off into the air. "Dad was a pretty straightforward guy. He didn't believe in the _social crap_ that seems to exist wherever I go—"

"I did _not_ swear so you could throw the words back in my face. Don't say ' _crap_ ', _I swear to god_."

"—Boys could cry without consequence, girls could be stronger than men, adults were responsible for guiding their children, not controlling them, and problems were better off being shared with family and friends that you could trust, instead of ignored. That's how I've lived my life with Replica and dad, so I don't _really_ understand what goes through your mind at times."

I paused. "…Mom _didn't_ raise me with the so-called ' _social-crap_ ' mindset."

"Yeah, but it got hammered into your head because of the society around you," He retorted, expression as carefree as ever despite the heavy topic. "Can I _finish_?"

"If you have somewhere you're going with this," I grumbled, leaning into my palm with my hand supporting my head.

"What I'm saying, is that I want that kind of bond with you," He continued seriously. "I want to be able to trust you, and while most of the time I can tell exactly what you're thinking with just a glance… I don't get your more complicated thought process at all sometimes. I want you to trust me so that you can talk to me without feeling like…"

He paused. "…Without feeling like I'll _abandon_ you the minute you mess something up. I know you don't have much faith in yourself, but by extension, it's almost like you don't trust me as much."

" **I want to be a better friend**. Is what I'm trying to say."

After a few moments of bleak silence, where I determined that he was finished for the moment, I shakily exhaled, slumping and allowing my head to fall onto the table with a slightly louder 'thud' than I had intended.

My bangs shadowed over my eyes, and I slipped my glasses off and set them down beside my head as I rested my face on the flat surface, inches from the burning grill built into the table.

There were a few more moments of silence on both of our parts before Yuma cut in with a slightly confused " _Mori_ …?"

I didn't lift my head up quite yet. " _Mm_?"

"…Are you alright?"

" _Yeah_ , I'm fine." I took a deep breath. "I'm just trying to gather my thoughts. I don't know how to phrase what I'm about to say next, but I feel like a _shitty_ friend."

"You shouldn't."

" _Maybe_ ," I paused. "But I do. Can I talk—actually, more like ramble— for a few minutes?"

I heard a slightly louder sizzle —probably since my head was resting beside the grill— just before Yuma's voice sounded out. He probably made his own attempt to push a pancake onto his plate. "Sure, go ahead."

A deep breath.

"…I think that other than _Rinji_ , you're my very first friend. Like, other than anyone that I consider family, like Chika and mom. And even then, Rinji was still like Chika in that aspect. You mean more to me than anyone else, but since I'm sort of new at this friend thing… I don't know how to act. I'm not used to having someone to lean on, someone that I'll rely on, someone that will rely on me with unwavering trust."

I thought back to the confident grin he gave me when he asked me if I'd go for a high score on the first training simulation. He had no doubt that I could achieve it if I wanted to. _No doubt, whatsoever_.

"And you _did_ trust in me, no matter how much I don't get _where on earth_ it came from. And I feel like I've put my trust in you too, but that's something that I'll have to hear your own opinion on. I don't get where a lot of your faith has appeared from, or why you have such a high opinion of me…"

A flash of the C-rank booth lobby, where Yuma had challenged Midorikawa. I didn't get why he had done it at the time, or why he had demanded that the latter treat me with respect and announce so brazenly that I was his captain, but I think I get it now.

"But I don't want to betray the trust and respect you gave me. So I'll try to hold on until I can… See whatever ' _worth_ ' you saw in me, and I'll trust that if I ever do something wrong, you'll let me know. If I ever slip up, I'll… try to have faith, that you're a better person than my insecurities think you are. I'll try to hold on to the hope that you won't leave me behind, no matter what."

I finally dragged my head back up to look into his eyes, facing his completely shellshocked expression head on.

(I feel lighter.)

"So, Yuma," I began, my voice unknowingly shaking. "I apologize in advance for all the trouble I put you through, but will you be my friend?"

There was a long pause before he chuckled under his breath. There was a strange sort of amusement swirling around in his eyes, but it was accompanied by an emotion I wasn't as familiar with: pride.

(.. _.Why is he proud of me? Have I really changed... that much?_ )

"You know," He laughed. "If I were anyone else, I'd probably think that this was a confession."

"… _Sorry, this is probably really rude to say,_ ** _but not in a million years_**." I smothered a grin, my expression shaking at the sudden humour brought into the situation. My hand was outstretched over the table, and he reached out to shake it firmly.

"I didn't think so." He chuckled, slipping something into my hand at the last minute before we pulled away. "No offence, but I wouldn't ever date you either. ' _In a million years_ '."

A mini Replica, fitting perfectly in the centre of my palm.

The one that I had left in my school blazer, the one I had been wearing during the invasion. The bloodstained blazer had probably been thrown out by now, but he managed to grab this before it was disposed of.

He lifted up his own mini Replica, probably the one that had accompanied him during the invasion after the Trion soldier himself headed over to protect Chika and me.

"We've got a goal to strive towards now. Are you still going to object to aiming for No. 1 now, or will you let Chika, Shiori and I drag you there without question?"

I let out a startled giggle at that, pushing back the tears in my eyes as my gaze remained on the lifeless Trion soldier in my hand.

"I'm still going to put up a fight on that front," I began, haphazardly shovelling another okonomiyaki onto his plate as the mini-Replica rolled around in my other hand. "But _now_ , we definitely need to go on that expedition mission as soon as possible. No matter how much attention that attracts."

(This was all we needed. I just wanted him to be beside me, and he just wanted me to see my so-called 'worth for my own eyes. So we'll wait together, until I see it myself.)

The pancake landed lopsidedly on the side of his plate. He made a face at it, and I let out another laugh at his expression.

"Man, _we suck at this._ " He frowned, before giving up and jabbing the whole pancake onto his fork and lifting the whole thing up in one go, lifting it towards his mouth. "I get why you do since one of your arms is in a cast and all that, but why me?"

I tucked the mini Replica into my pocket, pushing my plate away as a near-unnoticeable, dull ache formed in my stomach.

( _Probably ate too much, but I don't really regret it. I don't regret any of this meeting._ )

"It's probably painful to watch us, for all of the regulars and employees around here." I watched him shovel the whole fried meal into his mouth, before eyeing another okonomiyaki he had begun cooking on the pan. "—Also, _how much are you planning on eating_?!"

He paused, before glancing up at me, expression slowly twisting with a grin. "For the invasion, we got a really good bonus for all of the hard work. So I can eat _as much_ as I want."

He glanced down at the slowly cooking pancake again, before shrugging. "They probably also wanted to give us proper compensation since you almost died, and they hid it from the public… But we also had my black Trigger. _Oh well_ , we got paid, so I have more money now."

"Jesus _Christ_ ," I muttered, amusement rising in my stomach. "They gave us an award? I didn't think they would, given that Chika was still a C-rank."

" _About that_." He slid the spatula underneath the sizzling snack, attempting to flip it onto his plate. He miserably failed. "They were mostly using the award-prize-things as an excuse to rank Chika up so she could have a Bail out Trigger, and so, she got a promotion."

"Oh, that's how it happened." I watched in faint amusement as he scowled at the pathetically folded pancake. "I was wondering about that, since she can't shoot people… So she couldn't have gotten enough points to rank up through the solo rank wars route, and I was kinda curious."

"Yeah, so that's how it happened." He shovelled the savoury treat into his mouth again ( _swallowed it whole,_ ** _what the hell Yuma_** ), eager to try flipping the next one correctly.

( _Is this a game to him at this point?_ )

"Is that your fifth serving?" I dryly asked with barely concealed amusement. He gave me a wide grin, eyes rising from where he'd been staring at the other okonomiyaki cooking on the pan.

" _Maybe_ ," He waved the spatula around with a smirk. "I wasn't keeping count."

He, very carefully this time, slides the utensil underneath the pancake, trying to lift as much of it as cleanly as he could. He glanced at me and gestured wordlessly, but I shook my head.

Shrugging, he tossed it on his plate and I sighed at another failed attempt. "As much as I'm glad that the important, heavy stuff is out of the way…" I smothered a laugh at the sight of his displeased expression. "Is this what you're going to be doing until you get it right?"

"I 'ill do it pro'erly," He vowed solemnly, the moment ruined by his mouth full of food. " _'ne day_."

"Right, _right_." I watching him finish the serving within seconds, fork and spatula raised to scoop up another one. "Dude, just give up. Watching you eat so much is giving _me_ a stomach ache."

I watched with a horrified fascination as he narrowed his eyes at me, mouth stretching into a wide Cheshire grin.

" _Never_."

" _Oh, for_ ** _fuck's sake_** _!_ "

A metal spatula cut right in front of Yuma's own, the sharp edge nearly grazing my friend's utensils as the offending object slid underneath the pancake perfectly, lifting up, and slapping down on Yuma's plate with perfect accuracy.

Yuma blinked in shock, and the two of us glanced up at the person looming over our table menacingly.

Sharp, narrowed eyes flickered between us two irritatedly.

Yuma pouted, setting down his utensils to cross his arms with mock-irritation. " _Why'd you do that?_ I had it that time."

The tall teen snorted, black hair flicking around wildly. " _I don't think you did,_ ** _midget_** _._ It was getting fucking _aggravating_ watching you—"

" ** _MASATO_**!" An older voice yelled out from behind the counter, causing the teen to turn around to the source. " _We've got other customers around,_ ** _keep moving_**!"

" _Geh_." He waved off the man lazily, before turning away from our table. "I'm getting to it, just hang on."

I heard him curse under his breath, just before he was off.

I broke the silence after a few long, tense moments. "…Someone like _that_ works here…?"

Yuma took my words as an invitation to continue eating, picking up his okonomiyaki with his fork. "Who knows. Had a mouth almost as bad as yours though."

I scowled, poking him in the cheek. "For the _last time_ , I'll swear if I want to."

"Then don't complain when _everyone_ at Tamakoma picks up some of your foul language."

I brought my hand back down, resting my head on my palm again as I turned to the black-haired teen slowly trudging around tables and talking to customers. "…That's some impressive hair."

Yuma glanced up, red eyes scanning the spiky black locks. "Yeah, I guess so."

He paused, before squinting dubiously. "… _How does it stay like that_?"

I flicked my working arm upwards, waving my fingers as I moved. " ** _Magic_**." I paused, considering said hair for a moment. "The spikes do look really cool though. I didn't see any sign of gel though… Magic doesn't seem too far off all of a sudden. That's amazing."

The teen jolted all of a sudden, before spinning around and glaring at anyone daring to look in his direction. He didn't seem to notice us again yet though.

"He scowls a lot too." Yuma pointed at me, poking me in the cheek to accompany his words. " _Kind of like you._ "

I slapped his hand away lightly, hiding a grin behind my hand. "I _do_ ** _not_** scowl all the time. Besides, you're one to talk about hair. Yours is inhumanly fluffy, it's ridiculous."

"I think I saw sharp teeth too," He commented. "Is that _normal_ for Meeden?"

I opened my mouth but paused halfway as I turned back towards the black-haired teen questioningly. "… _It's actually not_ …?"

I think I heard Yuma mumbled a careless ' _that's so cool_ ' in between bites, but I was distracted as the teen once again, jolted and looked around with a scathing glare. This time, he did see us, and his eyes narrowed as he met gazes with me.

My eyes widened, and I leaned back in my seat as he began stomping over in our direction. " _Uh_."

Yuma looked up, okonomiyaki hanging halfway out of his mouth. " _What'd you do this time?_ " He met eyes with the teen and blinked without a single change in expression. Even as the male stood at the edge of the table again, eyes even angrier than last time. "…Oh. You. You're back?"

"Look, whichever one of you fucks is doing that—" His sharp eyes flickered between us two, shooting daggers with a single glare. "—Cut it out, or I'll kill you."

"Doing what?" Yuma asked, twirling his fork in his hand absentmindedly, short stature requiring him to tilt his head upwards to meet the teen's eyes.

'…He's acting weird.'

"For fuck sake—" The teen fumbled for words, gesturing vaguely with irritated movements. "—…That."

The two of us only lifted a questioning brow slowly, and the male let out a string of curse words under his breath that I took note of so I could repeat them later.

"Look," He waved a sharp, metal spatula in Yuma's face, sending an irritated glare towards both myself and my friend. "Usually, I'd beat the ever-living crap out of you, but I got roped into this fucking job for today. Just don't fucking look in my direction, it's distracting, and everything's going to be peachy. Clear?"

I noticed Yuma raise an amused eyebrow, and I could already tell this situation was going to end in disaster.

"How can I _stop_ , when I don't even know _what_ I'm doing?"

The moment the slightest hint of mockery leaked into Yuma's expression, I saw the teens eyebrows draw together in frustration and anger. Mostly irritation though, as if there was—

…Oh.

Now I think I get what Kikuchihara meant from before, although it's only a _little_ obvious. Or is it because I can notice the slightest body language with my side effect…? Great, now I feel like a creep.

"Do you have a side effect?" I asked bluntly, just as the teen reared back his arm with the spatula in frustration. I caught everyone at the table off guard apparently, as the teen paused mid swipe and Yuma's eyes widened near-unnoticeably, amusement fading in an instant.

There was a long pause, in which I slowly regretted ever opening my big, fat, mouth.

"…What the hell?" The teen growled, turning back to me. " _What the fuck is up with—_ "

" ** _Masato!_** " A middle-aged man yelled, audibly the one that had yelled at ' _Masato_ ' earlier. The man stepped up behind the teen with a scowl, hand lashing out with his index finger pointed sternly at the door. " _If you're not going to work and only fight with customers, then_ ** _take it outside_!**"

The three of us had approximately ten seconds where we exited the restaurant in a hurry, the small time frame a blur of kicking, screaming, and hurriedly paying the bill, just before we were all awkwardly standing outside of the store.

The teen, ' _Masato_ ', turned to send us a scathing glare as he jammed his hands in his pockets. His voice was poisonous, and I wobbled on my crutch to stand ( _I was_ ** _NOT_** _hiding—_ ) behind Yuma as the teen turned to us.

" _This is all your fault_."

-0-

"…So." He began, and I looked off to the side awkwardly as his (toned-down) glare slid to Yuma. "Shrimp." Then to me. " _Four-eyes_."

"I am growing _increasingly_ sick of that nickname," I grumbled uselessly under my breath, leaning heavily on my crutch. "But _sure_ , I guess that'll work for now."

Then, after a long, tense silence, Kageura snorted.

Yuma's smile didn't waver and with his arms crossed over his chest, and he didn't even turn to me as he spoke. "I think he's laughing at us, captain."

"Oh, calm down shrimp," Kageura growled, slamming a fist into Yuma's head. I bet that if the latter weren't near-immortalized in a Trion body, he would've flinched at the force of the hit. "I just find it hilarious, how the so-called ' _dark horses_ ' of Border are **_toddlers_**. Fucking _funniest_ shit I've heard in a while." He leaned over Yuma menacingly, and I decided to avoid commenting on the obvious height difference. "How do your opponents even _manage_ to hit you, **_midget_**?"

"… ' _Dark horses_ '…?" I repeated dubiously. "Who came up with that…?"

Kageura stood back up and gestured vaguely into the empty air, the streets nearly empty of people with the invasion's aftermath nearly over. "Even _I_ knew about it, and I don't watch the _fucking_ logs. **_Fuck_** , _everyone's_ freaking out about it. A C-rank —not even an **_official_** team— got one of the highest awards from the damn invasion… And then utterly _clobbered_ everyone in the first round of Rank wars. Not to mention, they didn't even need their so-called ' _captain_ ' to do it."

He paused, eyes only briefly noting my crutch. "I see it wasn't for the same damn reasons that were being tossed around though. _Fucking rumours_ , I swear to god."

(… _Rumours are being tossed around already?_ )

"This is a thing?" I looked at Yuma. "First you're the ' _White demon_ ', then Chika was ' _Tamakoma's Trion cannon'_ … Now ' _Dark horses_ '…?"

He nodded, slight amusement bleeding into his expression. " _It's hilarious_."

" _See_?" Kageura snorted. "You two aren't the arrogant jackasses I thought you'd be based on the rumours going around lately. Makes me fucking _sick_." He paused, before turning to us with a poisonous glare. "Though if you pull the shit you did earlier _again_ , **I'll kill you**."

" _What'd we even do…_?"

I elbowed Yuma lightly with my good arm. "It _probably_ has something to do with his side-effect. We were talking about him, it's probably something do with that. Some kind of perception-based thing, _maybe_."

"You two **_were_** fucking talking about me." He kicked Yuma in the legs and just barely refrained from doing the same to me as his eyes flickered back to my crutch. " _I_ ** _knew_** _it_ , it's such a gross feeling. What the _fuck_ was there to talk about anyway?"

"Mori was commenting on your hair," Yuma gave away shamelessly. "I thought your teeth looked cool too, but how did you get your hair like that?"

Kageura's scowl stretched. "I didn't do _anything_ to it, _it's just like that_."

Yuma blinked, eyes sliding back up to inspect the messy spikes flicking out. " _No way_. Really—Let me see!"

Kageura jumped back, avoiding Yuma's quick hand as he ducked. " _Get the fuck away from me!_ "

"Wait, how did you get it to be like that naturally? It's so _spiky_ —"

" **BACK THE FUCK OFF, _YOU DAMN GREMLIN!_** "

I sighed, watching the two boys interact with a small, amused smile.

"… _They're getting along well, I'd say._ "

-0-

"Do we _really_ need a plan for this…?"

Chika nodded patiently, while Shiori muffled a giggle with her hand.

"Konami said that the next two teams are _so-so_ ," Yuma commented with a grin. " _Which means_ that they're going to be a challenge, so we need _some semblance_ of a plan."

"Some semblance of a plan." I scrunched my face up, stuffing a cookie into my mouth. "… I _might_ be able to manage that."

"First things _first_ though…" Shiori moved the laptop over closer to herself and away from us. "… You need to fill up your Trigger slots. And practice with them."

I blinked, pausing mid-chew. "I forgot about that."

" _How on_ ** _earth_** _did you manage to forget…?_ "

"I think I already know what I want though," I continued eating, shoving another cookie in my mouth. The four of us had gone through half of the bowl, which Chika soon dragged away from me and towards her and Yuma. "A few shooter Triggers, and a Scorpion just in case someone gets too close. The Meteora is nice and I like it, but it doesn't have too much versatility in close-combat. It really only worked against the actual Trion soldiers themselves, but it'd only work _half the time_ against another Border agent or a humanoid Neighbour."

"And yet, _you picked it_ ," Yuma smugly grinned at me. " _Just because you wanted to_ ** _blow things up_.**"

I shoved my hand in the back of his head and glanced down at the Triggers scattered on the floor in front of us. All four of Tamakoma-2 had gathered to sit on the floor of a training room, set up like a miniature picnic for us to enjoy watching me mess around with Triggers and all of us to formulate plans for our next rank wars battle.

"Astroid is a _must_." I twirled said Trigger in my hand, eyes straying to the makeshift-label on the Trigger holder with Shiori's familiar handwriting decorating the label. "Along with that, I should get two shields, a bagworm… And Hound sounds good. _That leaves…_ "

"One leftover Trigger spot." Shiori adjusted her glasses with a proud gleam in her eye. "I think that's a pretty well-rounded Trigger set, do you want me to put it together for you to practice with, right now?"

I hadn't responded yet, but she was already tearing apart the Trigger holders and retrieving the Trigger-chips held inside.

"… Please do."

"A Scorpion, huh?" Yuma laughed, leaning backwards. "Brings back memories."

"I wish it didn't." I stared off into this air with an unintentionally bleak expression. "One of my _many_ , near-death experiences."

"That was _completely_ your fault though," He complained, and I pointedly ignored Chika's fondly exasperated shake of the head. " _You ran right into battle_."

With nothing in mind to retort, I jabbed two fingers into the back of his head.

"Alright, you two should stop that." Shiori chopped me lightly in the head, handing me the Trigger. "You have a lot of catching up to do, missy, we only have _two days_ until our next match."

" _Yeah, yeah_ …" I stood up, shaky without my crutches. The doctors had given me permission to walk without them, as long as it wasn't for long. "As long as I don't aim anything at you guys, I'm free to go crazy, yeah?"

I was given an encouraging nod by my sister, a loose thumbs up from Shiori, and an excited grin from my best friend.

( _Two days. Two days to catch up, two days until our next fight._ )

"Trigger… On."

(… _I've got this._ )

-0-

"What happened?" Konami whisper yelled, peeking around the corner of the doorway. "It's like a switch flipped, They're not _— They're not angsting anymore!_ "

"You're not sulking anymore either, Konami-senpai," Karasuma retorted dryly, just before she reached over to punch him in the side.

"I don't wanna hear that from **_you_**!"

"Well, all's well that ends well," Jin leaned against the wall, facing away from the door that the four agents were gathered around. " _Told'ja it'd work itself out eventually_. Mori had a chat with both Yuma and Chika-chan, don't worry about it. Though Kyosuke's lecture was a nice touch too."

Kizaki reached over and accepted a rice-cracker from Jin politely. "They're all doing well, it seems. _All of you are feeling better too._ "

Jin blinked, the two teens beside him not too far behind.

"…Now, what'd you mean by that, _Reiji_?"

"Nothing," The taller man denied, biting into the snack. "If you didn't notice it yourself, then there's no reason to mention it."

" _You guys are being vague and annoying_ ** _again_**!" Konami complained angrily, the younger team inside the training room thankfully not hearing her loud voice. " _That's it_ , get into the other training room! _Free-for-all,_ ** _right now_** _!_ "

" _Eh_ …?" Jin laughed with faux-casualness, stepping back near-unnoticeably. "I forgot to mention it, but I have a job that I need to do right now—"

Konami grabbed the edge of his collar, preventing his escape. " _I don't care if you have an errand,_ we're going to fight! All four of us, _right now!_ I'll beat the snot out of you!"

"Konami-senpai, he was lying. Jin-senpai doesn't actually have anything to do right now."

The female gasped, looping an arm around Jin's neck. " ** _HOW DARE YOU TRICK ME!_** "

"Ow, ow," Jin laughed. " _Now now,_ let's not—"

"Maybe we should make teams this time," Karasuma began casually. "Maybe, ' _everyone vs. Jin-senpai_ ' this time, just to see how it'd go."

"… _You young'uns are so cruel_ …"

"Jin, people are going to think you're an **_old man_** if you keep talking like that."

" _Et Tu,_ Reiji!?"

-0-

I was bodily flung to the side, an explosion having been set off just a bit to close to myself. The blast was decently powered, but not nearly strong enough to reach my teammates, who were quite a ways away in the corner of the training room

" _Fuck_ —"

" ** _Language!_** "

"Oh, _shove it!_ "

-0-

 _February fifth, Tamakoma-2's second official Rank wars match._

"Tamakoma-2's opponents today, are the close-combat oriented Suwa squad, and the long-range Arafune squad. Two units with clear-cut fighting styles!"

"Since Tamakoma-2 is ranked lowest, they get to pick the stage. They'll want to get the topographical advantage."

"Ok, the stage has been decided! The stage picked by Tamakoma-2 squad is—!"

-0-

 ** _"…Why don't we just… Pick something without a reason?"  
_**

 ** _Mori gained some strange glances from her teammates, and she groaned as she glared lightly at her computer screen. "Seriously, is this necessary? Both Yuma and I are better at improv anyway, while Shiori and Chika are amazing at adapting. Why don't we just pick something random so everyone will get confused? They'll wonder what the reason we chose the stage was when we don't actually have one. It'll throw them for a loop, make them paranoid."_**

 ** _There was a brief moment of silence before Yuma snorted and buried his face in his hands._**

 ** _"…I guess that's our crazy captain for you."_**

 ** _Chika giggled, while Shiori pat their captain on the back encouragingly. "As expected of Miku-chan. Only the weirdest ideas."_**

 ** _Mori blinked, sitting crisscrossed on the floor with the rest of her team. "What? It was just an thought, and I was being serious. My side effect makes it easier to make plans on the fly for me, while Yuma comes up with the best ideas up on the spot. And you two are flexible, I trust that you'll be able to handle whatever we think of."_**

 ** _Shiori scrolled the page of stages randomly, while all four of them shut their eyes in preparation. "Alright! The randomly chosen stage of today is….!"_**

-0-

"— ** _CITYSCAPE E!_** "

The large screen in the lobby shifted, and a photo of a large, empty city was shown. The buildings were more modernized than most of the other stages, with skyscrapers reaching high—although not unreasonably so—with little space between buildings, parking lots, and other geographical landmarks. There were four particularly tall buildings, one reaching what you'd expect of a famous skyscraper, and the other three with varying heights although much smaller. The rest of the buildings were still tall, but comparatively, nothing compared to the other four in the city.

Azuma blinked, while Midorikawa whistled. "This is one of the more difficult ones, due to how many floors there are on some of the buildings, huh?"

"Yes…" Azuma inspected the screen. "At first glance, it seems like a great setting for snipers, but that couldn't be _farther_ from the truth. There are many buildings for attackers and shooters to hide behind. Not to mention the seemingly _endless_ number of buildings and floors in the skyscrapers… it's a stage _primarily_ used for large-scale sniper training, where it's easier to find opponents with the larger numbers."

" _Such a peculiar setting…_!" Taketomi marvelled. "What could Tamakoma-2 have in mind? It'll be extremely dangerous to properly utilize Agent Amatori's _cannon_ abilities with the little space, _she could topple over a building if they're not careful_! Dangerous indeed…!"

"This'll be super hard for Arafune squad in comparison." Midorikawa felt like he should laugh in amusement but politely refrained. "Suwa squad **_technically_** has the upper hand now, but anything could happen with the never-ending number of hiding spots on this map… I _wonder what Yu—_ Tamakoma-2 had in mind right now?"

"Whatever it is..." Azuma glanced up at the screen in mild curiosity. ".. ** _.This match is bound to be interesting_**."

-0-

"This is going to be glorious," I stated firmly, staring off into space as I flopped on my mat lazily. "We're going to win, no matter what."

"Mori, you shouldn't stress so much," Yuma lectured me, stepping up to the side of my bed and leaning over my head with a comforting grin. "Just remember what we talked about last time, right?"

I took a deep breath, memories flashing through my mind.

Yuma tapped my head casually. "If you can't believe in the trust you put in yourself—"

"—Then believe in the trust you guys put in me," I finished quietly, which I capped off with a hesitant smile. "I remember. I even have Replica in my pocket in case I get lonely on my own."

" _Do you now?_ " He laughed, although not meanly. "I keep mine in my pocket at _all_ _times_ , even in my Border-Trion body. It's nice."

"It is comforting," I admitted, taking a few deep breathes before I sat up. Chika was standing by Shiori—who was seated at the desk— with a comforting, determined smile. All three of us were decked out in a teal-like blue, with black and white accents decorating the team uniform.

"Who designed my uniform anyway?" I changed the topic jokingly, glancing at my rolled up sleeves. The sleeves had been getting in the way while I was practising with the Asteroid and Hound ( _They wouldn't have been getting in the way if I just tried giving up on the idea of hiding bullets in my sleeves. But no matter how much Yuma laughed as I blew myself up, I still thought it was a cool idea_.) so I rolled it up around my elbows. The gloves were surprisingly comfy, and the collar that matched Chika and Yuma's didn't— _surprisingly_ —get in the way. I actually liked the collar.

"Does everyone remember the plan?" I asked, stepping closer to both girls with Yuma right beside me, hands linked behind his head.

Shiori giggled at me. "By ' _plan_ ', do you mean ' _Just make sure you have fun, and blow some people up_ '?"

I nodded, pumping as much certainty as I could muster into my voice. " ** _Absolutely_**."

"Well, it's almost time." She sat down and gave a playful salute. "Get ready!"

"It's _go_ time," Yuma whispered, just loud enough for us to hear as we faded from the room with a flash of Trion. " _We've got this in the bag_."

 ** _"BEGIN RANK WAR."_**

-0-

A / N -

Me, at 3AM in the morning today : …..I FORGOT TO UPDATE SHITFUCKFUCKFUCK—


	12. Izayoi Seeing

I glanced around idly, scanning my surroundings. My hand rose to my shoulder to turn my Bagworm on thoughtlessly, the cloak spreading out around my arms and flapping in the wind.

"…Where am I?"

A familiar click resounded in my ear. **_"Miku-chan, use your radar."_**

"Right, right. Forgot." I flicked my hand up and scanned the small translucent disk that appeared. "Oh, this is useful… There are four dots."

 ** _"Three of them are Suwa squad,"_** Yuma filled in helpfully over the communicator. ** _"And the other one is me, so Arafune squad, Chika, and you are hidden right now."_**

 ** _"I've secured a proper spot to snipe from,"_** Chika chimed in helpfully.

 ** _"Wait, already? That was quick."_** Yuma sighed. **_"Well, captain, who should we target first…?"_**

"I dunno," I muttered, ignoring how unhelpful it was. I stepped up to the ledge of the tall building I was on, whistling at the slight breeze that emphasized the height. "I can see a lot from here though, It might be better if I stay here for a good vantage point."  
 ** _  
"Oh, your side effect might be good for that."_** Shiori hummed. **_"Yuma will be fighting on his own then though."_**

 ** _"I can handle it,"_** Yuma whistled nonchalantly. **_"I'm not near anyone on the radar though, crap."  
_**

"Language," I warned.

 ** _"Yeah yeah, whatever—"_**

"Wait." I cut him off, my eyes narrowing on one of the other tall buildings. "I think it's starting."

-0-

 **"And Captain Suwa and Sasamori from joined together and caught Hanzaki!"** Taketomi yelled. **"Suwa squad had the initial advantage, with all three agents starting quite close together! Tsutsumi seems to have split up from them though!"**

 **"Arafune also got decent starting spots, but Suwa squad gathered themselves quicker,"** Azuma observed Hanzaki jump to the side to avoid some shots from Suwa. **"Suwa and Sasamori have a large advantage here, both being close-to-mid range fighters, while Hanzaki is long range."**

 **"Hokari has a good spot at the highest building in the setting though,"** Midorikawa nodded casually. **"He's probably going to—"**

A shot pierced through the screen cleanly, the bullet travelling towards Suwa at such a quick speed that he barely had any time to react.

 **"OH MY GOD!"** Taketomi shrieked in surprise

 **"—Do that,"** Midorikawa finished nonchalantly. **"Is Suwa out already?"**

 **"He's not—Wait!"**

The smoke around Suwa's face cleared up, and he looked up at the tallest building with a smug grin.

 **"Captain Suwa used a pinpoint defence against Hokari's headshot! If he'd been off by even a little bit, or Hokari used an Ibis, he would've been dead!"**

 **"He probably figured that Hokari, Arafune and Amatori can't use a Lightning or an Ibis with their perspective right now,"** Azuma commented calmly. **"With Hanzaki, Suwa and Sasamori currently on the third tallest building and Hokari on the tallest, the distance between the two buildings is too large to use anything other than the Eaglet to reach Suwa right now. And other than the four tallest buildings, there's nowhere else to get a good shot at the others."**

 **"…Indeed."** Midorikawa nodded sagely. **"I was just about to say that."**

-0-

Sasamori slashed down with his Kogetsu, slicing a small cut into Hanzaki's boot as the latter jumped away.

"Arafune, I can't get away," Hanzaki muttered into the communicator. "Any way of meeting up right now?"

 ** _"How long can you hold on for?"_**

"Uh," Suwa shot again, idly dodging another sniper shot from Hokari. "With Hokari's help, maybe a few minutes."

 ** _"Alright,"_** Arafune responded calmly. **_"That's all I need."_**

 ** _"Guys."_** Hokari interrupted quickly. **_"Hate to break it to you, but_ incoming _."_**

Hanzaki's head swivelled around quickly, just barely catching the movement of a white-haired blur dashing across the roof.

"Wha—"

Sasamori lifted his sword as quickly as he could manage, catching Yuma's sharp Scorpion before it could slice his head off. However, the momentum was too much, as Yuma pushed the two of them right over the side of the building.

"What the _hell_?!" Suwa yelled indignantly, a few bullets barely missing Yuma's back as he and Sasamori disappeared over the ledge. " _Where'd he come from?!_ "

"So fast," Hanzaki muttered while backing away from Suwa once again, although the space on the roof was limited. "I could barely see him…!"

" _Wait, midget!_ " Suwa noticed Hanzaki trying to get away and began to run after him as the former began to run towards the building's roof door. " _Hey_ , you're not getting away!"

-0-

Yuma landed easily on a relatively shorter building, falling a bit further away from Sasamori in a front roll.

Sasamori, having been falling back-first, surprisingly also landed successfully.

He pointed his sword at Yuma cautiously, eyes narrowing and scanning his surroundings carefully.

Yuma formed two blades of his own, charging at Sasamori without a word.

-0-

"Yuma, remember that Sasamori has the Chameleon Trigger," I warned quickly, eyes still scanning the whole battlefield below me.

 ** _"Yeah yeah,"_** I heard his reply come, although I couldn't see his lips move from where I was. **_"Can't you just see him with the Chameleon if we need to?"_**

 ** _"Miku-chan's side effect only works well with things she can see!"_** Shiori cut in. **_"At this range, she can only see basic shapes and movement. For the fine details, we'd need to give her binoculars, or send her down there with you."_**

 ** _"…So she really is just 'four-eyes' now?"  
_**  
I threw a stone off of the side of the roof with a huff, although it only served as a stress relief. "Yuma, shouldn't you be focusing on your fight?"

 ** _"…Alright, no offence,"_** He began. **_"But he's not exactly very challenging to fight if I'm not caught off guard, and he hasn't used his Chameleon yet."_**

A small, barely noticeable crackle in the earpiece. **_"Big sister, are we just going to sit here doing nothing for the whole rank wars match?"_**

"You might, if things go well," I shrug, even though no one could see the movement. "We still don't know where Arafune and Tsutsumi are though, which is a small problem that'll probably come to haunt us later."

 ** _"You don't need to say it like—Oh, there he goes."_** I heard Yuma cut himself off, just as I glanced down towards his battle. **_"Ah, Sasamori used Chameleon. Mori, could you find him for me?"_**

"I can barely see anything from his range, since you pushed him off to a lower roof," I grumbled, leaning down to peer over the edge of the building. "…Nope, can't help you there. If I jumped down maybe, but I can see Suwa and Hanzaki from here, so I don't want to move."

 ** _"Oh, lovely."_**

"You're on your own buddy." I sighed lightly. "You'll manage though, _you've never let me down before._ "

-0-

Yuma leapt to the side silently, war-trained senses picking up the minimal movement that Sasamori was making.

The Chameleon did well in hiding the teen though, as his Kogetsu barely formed quick enough to slice a deep cut into Yuma's leg.

" ** _Oops_**." Yuma front flipped as he landed a few meters away. His fingers fell down to graze the cut lightly, regardless of the thin white fog leaking from the incision. "Mori's gonna hold that over my head later, I _just_ know it."

Sasamori faced his opponent, eyes narrowing in slight irritation. "Are you underestimating me?"

"What? Of _course_ not." Yuma shook his hand back and forth nonchalantly, but the slightly mocking duck face he had on ruined the sentiment. " _I would never_."

Sasamori's eyes narrowed further and he adjusted his sword in his grip, ready to charge towards his opponent before—

" _Senku_ …"

Yuma's eyes glinted in slight surprise as he jumped up and towards the side, while Sasamori's eyes widened in shock.

He was too late in moving though.

" ** _—Kogetsu_**."

The building they were on teetered dangerously and Yuma watched from the spot he had jumped to as the building slid off and crashed back to ground level.

A clean cut had made its way through the small corner of the building, barely making its way through Sasamori from where the source was.

"Ah, I didn't get both of you?" Arafune questioned calmly as the bisected Sasamori fell to the ground. " _I must be losing my touch_."

 ** _"Combat body limit exceeded. Bail out."_**

A flash of light illuminated the area for a split second as the Bail out did its work, just as Yuma peered down at the clean-cut going through the small corner of the building.

"Man, _that was close_ ," Yuma mumbled. "Good thing I didn't get caught by that either, or Mori would **_really_** have something to poke fun at me for."

"I suppose I should go back up Hanzaki, as soon as I'm done with you," Arafune grinned slightly. " _Rookie_."

"I wouldn't suppose you don't have any cover fire?" Yuma asked. "Maybe your friend is… just helping out the _other_ guy? No snipers aiming to fire at me _at this exact moment_?"

Arafune's eyes glinted underneath the cap. " _What do you think?_ "

Yuma sighed, Scorpion materializing in hand. "You didn't even **_try_** to lie."

-0-

 ** _"You guys are missing out on the fun over there."_**

I sighed heavily, watching with what few peeks I could get through the building's windows as Suwa chased after Hanzaki. "Yuma, focus. You're fighting Arafune right now, you can't afford to slack off."

 ** _"Right, right."  
_**

 ** _"I can't shoot as well right now, because of all of the buildings,"_** Chika reported. **_"But I've got a decent hiding spot."_**

 ** _"I'll say!"_** Shiori giggled. **_"Wait 'till you see it Miku-chan, it's great! Pocari won't even know what hit him!"_**

Yuma's voice filtered in through my ear. **_"'_ Pocari _'… Who—? Never mind."_**

"Focus." I cut him off absentmindedly, eyes scanning the building not too far from me. The supports weren't the best I've seen, seeing as how they were more on the thin side. Though the large quantity of them made up for that, they were still pretty breakable if I had a strong enough force to hit all of them.

Or…Just one big, big force. That was large enough to hit a whole level of the building at once.

Chika's hiding in a really surprising spot, that'll shock Hokari from Arafune… Hokari shot from the building over there, didn't he—?

 _Oh_. **_OH_**.

Wait,so, the building Hokari is in has a clear shot to the Building Hanzaki and Suwa are in, but would an Ibis make it that far…? I'm positive that the average Ibis wouldn't, but would Chika's large quantity of Trion pumped into one shot make up for that? It seems like it's just barely out of range, but it's hard to eyeball it like this…

The building I'm in isn't taller than the one Suwa and Hanzaki are in, but with me on the top floor of mine, and them on the… The 7th-to-the-top floor of theirs, I'm at a higher elevation than them… Could I make that jump? I mean, probably… Most definitely if they just got a little lower—Oh god this sounds like one of those fucking dumb math questions we get in school that makes absolutely no sense—!

 ** _"Big sister, do you have an idea?"_**

My thoughts screeched to a halt.

There was an elongated silence before I sighed heavily.

"…It sounds much more chaotic when I say it out loud. I don't think you'll like it," I admitted quietly.

Chika giggled. **_"Well, who's the captain here?"_**

I paused. " _Me_."

 ** _"Right, so who can tell you '_ no _'?"_**

' _I need to move quickly._ ' I squinted, watching Hanzaki's leg get blown off by one of Suwa's shots. "Is this your way of encouraging me?"

 ** _"Whatever you have in mind Miku-chan, we'll support you in it!"_** Shiori cut in cheerfully. **_"You said it yourself, the two of us are flexible enough to go along with whatever you and Yuma think up. Right, Chika-chan?"_**

 ** _"Right."_** Chika agreed in determination. **_"So just say the word, big sister."_**

I broke myself out of my shocked stupor relatively quickly and smiled lightly.

'… _We've got this_.'

"Alright, Shiori?" I began. "Can you highlight something for me, and then send it to Chika?"

 ** _"Don't doubt me on this one!"_**

I nodded, my smile stretching. "Alright, so the pillars holding up the building, can you outline all of them for Chika? I need her to aim for… around the sixth floor."

She stopped talking for a moment in shock and realization before a low chuckle resounded through the communicators. ** _"… Miku-chan, you're so evil."_**

"I also need to get a clear jumping trajectory, from my spot to theirs." I grinned in excitement. "Their Trion bodies might be able to survive the fall, so I'll jump in and steal the points as we're falling. I tried to make an estimate it earlier, but can I actually make the jump?"

She paused, and I heard a few clicks on her keyboard. **_"Hm… You'll need to jump right away. Might need a boost or something, just to make it all the way."_**

"Maybe I can launch myself with Meteora." I hummed in thought. "It just might blow my legs to bits though. Yuma and Chika'll have to finish the round without me…."

 ** _"If that's what you need, sister, then we'll do it,"_** Chika spoke up. **_"I'm ready to fire."_**

"I don't deserve you guys, _seriously_." I sighed in relief, creating a large Meteora cube in my hands as I turned around. I set it down on the ground and stepped back to take a look. " _Will that be powerful enough_ …?"

I tried to imagine it in my mind, but Shiori had already run through the calculations. **_"You'll need to get it more underneath you, to get a good angle. Also, you might want three cubes of that, and launch them all at once."_**

I laughed, bringing out a scorpion to cut a hole in the ground. "Ah, this'll probably be a little better for my legs, since it's farther away from me... That's good, I can chase after Suwa and Hanzaki if I need to." I picked up the cube and carefully dropped it down to the lower level, internally sighing in relief when it didn't explode early. "If the collapsing building doesn't bury me, my legs will stop me from going anywhere."

 ** _"Judging by how tall the building is, and how much will be destroyed by your plan?"_** Shiori laughed. **_"You'll only get out of there safely if you're lucky."_**

"Chika, you and Yuma better finish the match quickly, I don't want to be buried for too long," I muttered jokingly, hearing a quiet giggle in return. "If the match only lasts 5 more minutes, I'll give you two a favour." I formed another Meteora cube and dropped it into the pit in one fluid motion.

 ** _"How will you know how much time has passed?"_** Chika questioned.

"Shiori, set up a timer for me," Slipped out of my mouth without missing a beat, just as said operator laughed.

 ** _"Alright, alright~ 5 minutes?"_**

"Please." I gently tossed another Meteora cube into the hole, bringing the grand total up to three. "Shiori, is this enough?"

 ** _"Yup, you're good!"_** She laughed quietly once more, and I positioned myself at the very edge of the building, an asteroid in hand to fire at the bombs. **_"Oh god, we're really doing this. I don't think anyone's ever done this in a rank war."_**

"Too bad Yuma's too busy to join in." I sighed. "Shiori, will Chika's shot make it to the building with enough force to destroy all of the pillars?"

 ** _"I checked over my calculations thrice!"_** Shiori cheered. **_"Affirmative!"_**

"Shiori, you're too good for us."

-0-

 **"Suwa is closing in on Hanzaki quickly!"** Taketomi screamed. **"And on the other side, Arafune has taken out Sasamori with one clean swipe, and is locked in battle with Kuga!"**

 **"At this point, anything could happen,"** Midorikawa commented. **"Tsutsumi's still hidden, Arafune has Hokari as cover-fire... And the rest of Tamakoma-2 is god knows where right now."** The young teen rocked back and forth in his chair childishly, regardless of the incredulous stares he received. **"…I wonder where Mikumo-senpai went…"**

Taketomi blinked confusedly at the A-rank agent. **"Mikumo…'- _Senpai_ '…?"**

 **"Midorikawa is correct in that aspect though,"** Azuma agreed without skipping a beat. **"There are still a lot of people hidden, despite how far the match has progressed. And if Suwa finishes Hanzaki off quickly, from the height of his building…"**

 **"…He can jump over to join the battle with Kuga and Arafune,"** Midorikawa finished. **"At first glance, you'd think that people would be spread out far and wide with a setting this large, but the four skyscrapers actually act as gathering points… Huh?"**

 **"Appearances are deceiving…"** Taketomi hummed. **"On Arafune and Yuma's end though, who do _you_ think will win?"**

 **" _I think Yuma has a better shot_."** Midorikawa's blunt comment came. **"For one, Arafune's a sniper right now. And I've fought against Yuma myself, he's pretty good."**

 **"Didn't he beat you, 8-2?"** Azuma asked, the only reply being the young teen's laugh.

 **"He _demolished_ me!" **

Taketomi's shoulders drooped. **"That's _really_ not something to be proud of…"**

 **"Still, Arafune's not someone to be underestimated."** Azuma stared up at the screen, adjusting his headset absentmindedly. **"And with Hokari as cover fire, Arafune squad can easily get a good opportunity to take Kuga down."**

"Hm…" Midorikawa hummed away from his microphone momentarily, squinting dubiously at the screen.

 **"…Yeah, _I don't think that's gonna happen_."**

Taketomi and Azuma jolted, both turning to Midorikawa.

 **"What do you mean by that?"** The female asked first, after a near-unnoticeable pause.

 **"Well, I just don't think Mikumo-senpai will let that happen,"** Midorikawa bluntly stated. **"The fact that she hasn't shown herself says a lot, she's setting up for something… I think. She doesn't seem like the kind of person that'd just stand back for too long."** He paused, before rocking in his chair once again. **"She was super passive in our own match though, so maybe I'm guessing wrong. Whatever."**

Azuma's eyes flickered at the screen for just a moment. **"I think—"**

They were cut off by a large explosion.

-0-

 ** _"Target hit!"_**

"Alright, thank you! I had a feeling you were over there, but JEEZ! Everyone that's still hidden will be rushing to your spot soon, you better run!"

 ** _"Chika-chan, I've highlighted a path for you! Just head that way!"_**

 ** _"Right!"_**

-0-

Arafune stared upwards and to the side, wide eyes silently taking in the sight of falling rubble from the nearby building.

Yuma huffed, red eyes glinting in amusement as he glanced in the same direction.

"Man, that's our captain for you. She _could've_ waited 'till I finished up here though, that looks like _fun_."

-0-

 **"I—Wha—WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!"** Taketomi stuttered.

Azuma, who's eyes were slightly wider than usual, regained his composure first. **"That shot wasn't from Hokari, but Amatori. She was in the same building Hokari was in…?"**

 **"…This wasn't what I was expecting, but it works."** Midorikawa mumbled in awe.

 **"Agent Amatori was hiding in the same building as Hokari, and fired directly at the building Suwa and Hanzaki are in!"** Taketomi shrieked. **"What is Tamakoma—?!"**

Another explosion cut her off, though this one was less loud and slightly muted.

 ** _"ANOTHER ONE!?"_**

 **"Wait."** Azuma glanced up at the second crumbling building, although the explosion was near the top of the skyscraper rather than the bottom. **"Look."**

Everyone in the audiences' heads swung up towards the top of the screen, most squinting as their eyes struggled to catch sight of the small figure falling from the top of the building.

 **"I-IT'S MIKUMO!"** Taketomi screamed in disbelief. **"What is she doing?!"**

 **"She's jumping to Suwa and Hanzaki from the second building,"** Azuma observed with well-concealed shock. **"Can she make that jump?"**

"She used Meteora to boost her jump, it looks like!"

Midorikawa squinted at the screen, not unlike many others in the lobby. **" _And_ —…!"**

Mori just barely crashed through the glass of the other building, landing solidly two levels above Suwa and Hanzaki.

 ** _"—SHE MADE IT!?"_**

-0-

I scrambled to my feet, brushing glass off of my Bagworm cloak as I tumbled through the building's rooms.

The floor shook underneath my feet, and I stabbed a Scorpion into the floor to try and stabilize myself.

' _The building is coming down, and fast_.'

"Shiori, where are Hanzaki and Suwa?" I yelled over the concrete's loud cracking, ears barely catching the sound of Shiori's voice.

 ** _"Directly underneath you by two levels, still trying to get their bearings!"_** She yelled. ** _"You have 13 seconds until the building hits the ground!"_**

"Alrighty then," I grumbled, allowing the Scorpion to dissipate. " _Let's do this quickly then_."

A Meteora cube formed in my hand, and I aimed directly at the ground.

-0-

"What the hell?!" Suwa yelled, struggling to stay on his feet as the building tipped dangerously. " _WHAT'S GOING ON?!_ "

Hanzaki peered out the nearby window with wide eyes, barely catching sight of the quickly approaching ground before he turned around.

' _Where's an escape…?! I have to—_ '

Both agents were cut off as The ceiling between them exploded, rubble falling like rain as a dark figure fell through the hole.

Hanzaki barely had a moment to open his mouth, before Suwa shot him in the head.

 ** _"Combat body limit exceeded. Bail out."_**

-0-

I dodged Suwa's first shot, eyes scanning the area as I caught sight of the two shotgun barrels.

 ** _"Miku-chan, you have 6 seconds!"_**

One aimed at me, one aimed at Hanzaki.

' _Shit— He's already got the point._ '

I gave up on Hanzaki, instead deciding to run directly towards Suwa as I deactivated my bagworm.

' _Can't use Asteroid, he can just use a focused shield like before—_ '

The light from Hanzaki's Bail out barely illuminated the area as I materialized two Scorpion in my hands, and stabbed Suwa in the chest with both.

" _What the fuck—_ " His cigarette dropped as his Trion body split apart, white Trion slowly leaking through the cuts. "Goddamn rookie— _You came out of nowhere_!"

Just before he Bailed out, he hastily aimed the shotgun at my leg.

 ** _My eyes widened, and I pulled back both swords to try and jump away. "Ah, shit—!"_**

A gunshot and a flash of light, just before the rubble buried me.

-0-

Chika glanced up, eyes scanning outside a window as she watched the top half of the building hit the ground with an echoing ' _BOOM_ '.

Her hand rose to her ear as she scanned the rubble quickly. "Shiori-san, I saw two Bail out lights."

 ** _"Miku-chan said '_ sorry, I could only get one point _',"_** Shiori replied. **_"…Or, I know she would have if she could. She's kind of… buried."_**

"She did well, I'll tell her that later." Chika nodded, before continuing to jog down the building's hall. "Can she get out?"

 ** _"She might be able to, I'm scanning the rubble right now."_** Shiori hummed distractedly. **_"Suwa-san shot her in the leg before he Bailed out though, she won't be able to get as far because of that—"_**

A small ' _clack_ '.

Chika jolted and spun around in surprise.

A tall figure stepped out of the buildings shadows, Bagworm deactivating as he took a step forward.

"Of all the people I run into…" Tsutsumi sighed, although his pleasant smile didn't falter. "This is going to be hard."

"I hope you won't go easy on me because of how old I am," Chika politely stated. "After all, _Tamakoma-2's forte is taking people by surprise_."

-0-

 ** _"Chika was found—!"_** Shiori's voice crackled through the communicator. **_"Yuma, can you get over there in time?"_**

"Hm," Yuma hummed, stepping to the side. " _Might_ be able to."

' _I haven't used my Grasshopper yet, it might get enough of a surprise for a good opening—_ '

Yuma's eyes flickered as he jumped back, a sniper bullet barely skimming the edge of his hair.

Arafune took that opportunity and advanced with his Kogetsu extended towards Yuma.

Yuma's eyes widened, and he jumped upwards at the last second.

However, he glanced around in the air, eyes barely catching sight of the damage as a wispy white cloud floated past.

"Oh." He landed a few meters away from Arafune with a small grin. "You're not going to make this easy for me, are you?"

" _Not a chance_ ," Arafune smirked. "I can't let my guard down for a second around you, I can _feel_ it."

Yuma chuckled, standing despite his lack of a right leg. White Trion fizzled and sputtered from the stump, and Yuma spoke into his communicator quietly.

" _Sorry Shiori,_ I can't climb up the building like this. Chika, are you good on your own?"

-0-

Chika sighed, hand dropping from her ear as she stared at Tsutsumi.

"Yuma can't climb up here on his own… _Huh_?"

An Ibis formed in her hand instantly, and Tsutsumi regarded the weapon warily as she held it loosely in her grip.

She smiled. "Mori really does find a way to infect everyone with her crazy ideas… _Or else I don't think I'd be doing this._ "

Tsutsumi would have blinked in surprise if his eyes were open in the first place. " ** _What_** …?"

She aimed her sniper rifle at the floor, and fired.

-0-

 ** _"AND YET ANOTHER BUILDING IS COMING DOWN!"_**

Azuma sighed, staring at the screen with exasperation. **"Really, it makes you wonder if Tamakoma-2 meant to do this from the very start."**

Midorikawa whistled, arms crossed over his chest. **"Well, they make things interesting, that's for sure."**

-0-

Arafune barely reacted this time, still keeping his eyes on his opponent despite the falling building behind him.

"Whoa, _whoa_ ," Yuma whistled as he dodged another slash, now free to move around without the sniper shots from Hokari. "Your teammate was in that building, aren't you worried?"

"My job is to take you down first," Arafune's grin barely peeked over the edge of his bagworm. "And Hokari _is more than_ smart enough to take care of himself."

Yuma sighed. "Well, _whatever_. I have places to be though."

He charged at Arafune from the left, just as the latter raised his sword in preparation.

Only to be utterly blindsided, as Yuma bounced to the side opposite of where Arafune had been facing.

Arafune jolted, not having enough time to turn around before a Scorpion sliced his head in half. With the boost from his Grasshopper, Yuma flew past the shocked teen with a cheeky wave.

"That was good, _I'll admit it._ " Arafune watched Yuma jump towards the crumbling building, just before the Bail out began to take effect. " ** _Not bad._** "

 ** _"Combat body limit exceeded. Bail out."_**

A flash of light from behind him allowed Yuma to grin.

"You're pretty good too," Yuma used Grasshopper to jump to the collapsed skyscraper quicker, despite his missing leg. " _Arafune_."

He finally arrived at the remains of the fallen building, three of the remains five people already gathered there.

"Whoa, Arafune was right," Yuma peered over at Hokari, who had used a larger piece of Rubble to cushion his fall. "The other guy's not that bad. _Such faith in his teammates_. Suwa squad wasn't that bad either."

Another flash illuminated the area, and Yuma turned just in time to watch Chika Bail out.

"Ah, I didn't get here in time." Yuma groaned. " _She did good though_ , bringing them both to ground level."

 ** _"Chika really improved, huh?"_** Shiori marvelled through the communicator. **_"Sorry I've been quiet, I was navigating Miku-chan out of the rubble."_**

Yuma didn't have a chance to respond, as he threw his head to the side. A bullet skimmed his head, and he jumped to the side to avoid another onslaught of bullets.

"What a _rude_ welcome," He grumbled, eyes landing on Hokari. "He got his bearings quickly."

Tsutsumi aimed at Hokari and fired, allowing Yuma a chance to breathe as the sniper dodged.

' _The guy from Suwa squad has the advantage right now, since Arafune's teammate is a sniper,' Yuma thought, scanning the area. 'I should aim for Arafune's teammate, he's easier to fight right now_.'

Yuma nodded decisively, one Scorpion forming in hand as he launched himself at Hokari with a Grasshopper.

Hokari, already knowing that he was out of his element, sighed. "I'm already dead, huh?"

Taking aim at Yuma, who was running directly for him, Hokari fired and blasted off Yuma's hand.

Yuma clicked his tongue and formed another Scorpion mid-air, slicing Hokari in half with one swift movement.

 ** _"Combat body limit exceeded. Bail out."_**

Yuma landed on the ground, the light from the Bail out blinding him for a split second. " _Nice try._ "

Tsutsumi grit his teeth, aiming his shotguns at Yuma and firing off round after round.

 ** _"Yuma, hold on for just a little longer!"_** Shiori called out. **_"Just a few more seconds, Mori is—!"_**

Yuma raised his hand, abandoning his Scorpion for a double layered shield. Bullet after bullet came, cracking the edges of his shields just as quickly as he created them.

' _I'm running out of Trion_.' Yuma grinned, just as a figure dragged themselves to their feet on the short building just behind Tsutsumi. ' _Good thing it's already over_.'

Tsutsumi caught sight of Yuma's grin and jolted.

He barely had a second to put the pieces together though, before a dozen Asteroid bullets ran right through him from behind.

 ** _"Combat body limit exceeded. Bail out."_**

-0-

"Hey, help me up here," Yuma laughed, watching his partner hobble over to his position. "I'm missing a leg, _I need help_."

" ** _You're_** missing a leg?" Mori gave him a glare. Her intentions were clear though, as she couldn't quite fight back the urge to grin. "Look at me, I had to ' _run_ ' _all the way here_."

" _Eh_ , you've got a point." Yuma shrugged before his last remaining hand rose to his ear. "By the way, Shiori, how quickly did we finish the match?"

Mori groaned. "You heard that part?"

" _Of course I did,_ " Yuma smugly replied. "Getting a favour from you? _Boy_ , I already have something in mind."

" ** _I suddenly fear for my life_**."

Yuma laughed. " _You should_. Shiori, Chika?"

A small click rang out, with Shiori's voice following not long after. **_"The timer just finished! You guys finished at nearly 4 minutes and 51 seconds!"_**

Mori buried her face in her hands and fell backwards with a dramatic groan. " ** _Fuck_** — _I was so close._ "

Yuma poked her in the side with his remaining foot. " _Ye of little faith_ —"

Mori peeked between her fingers to glare at him. "Did _Jin_ teach you that fucking phrase?"

" _That matters not,_ " He finished smugly, slowly dragging himself to his feet. "What matters—"

 ** _"—Is that we have a favour now,"_** Chika completed for him from the operator room. ** _"And I think I know what Yuma has in mind, since there's been something bugging everyone at Tamakoma for a few days."_**

 ** _"Wait, you guys are going to ask her about that?"_** Shiori chimed in with a giggle. ** _"Don't you think that's a bit cruel?"_**

Mori's frustrated scream only barely blocked out the sound of Shiori's giggles.

 _"I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU GUYS ARE TALKING ABOUT!"_

-0-

"Ah, there you guys are!" Midorikawa cheered, before pausing awkwardly. "…Mikumo-senpai, are you ok?"

" _Hm_?" I hummed, drooping. "Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. _Don't worry about it_."

"You look dead." Yoneya laughed from behind the group. " _Thankfully metaphorically_ , this time."

"Are we making dying jokes already?" I turned to Yuma. " _Let me make the stab jokes now._ ** _Please_**."

" ** _No_**." Yuma bluntly cut me off, expression pleasant yet carefully blank. " _No stab jokes_. You have terrible taste."

I turned back to the small group gathered in the hall. "I guess no dying and-or stab jokes. _Sorry_."

"Well, he's right about one thing," Kikuchihara sent me a clipped glare. " _You do have terrible taste_."

I shrugged.

"Well, anyways, how'd that Grasshopper work?!" Midorikawa bounced over to Yuma. "Worked pretty good against Arafune, huh?"

"It was _awesome_." Yuma bumped his fist against Midorikawa's with a small smile forming. "Thanks for that again."

"Hey, do you wanna have a few more matches?" The younger teen asked excitedly. "I've got a few more tricks this time, I think I can pull out a few more wins against you _this time_!"

" _Hm_ …?" Yuma grinned. "Let's see about that."

He turned to me quickly. "Captain?"

I gave him a quick thumbs up. "I'll follow after you later, or else you'll **_never_** be able to find your way back."

He snorted and grabbed Midorikawa by the arm, dragging him off down the hallway. "Don't insult my sense of direction, captain!"

I waved, before squinting dubiously as the two of them turned the corner. " _Other way,_ ** _idiot_** _!_ "

A white and brown blur passed by again, heading in the opposite direction without saying a word.

After a few moments of silence, Shiori turned to the rest of them with an excited grin.

"So, how are the rest of you doing? It's been _so_ long since we've chatted properly!"

"And who's fault is that?" I heard Kikuchihara grumble under his breath.

Thankfully, Utagawa properly responded quickly after, catching Shiori's attention. "We've been doing fine. Though, Usami, _you've gotten more beautiful since I saw you last._ "

' _So forward!_ '

I saw Kikuchihara mock-gag behind Utagawa, and I nearly choked on my laughter.

Shiori smiled at the compliment, curving her body with a hand behind her head and the other positioned at her waist. "Oh? You've got a good eye, Uttei!"

Kikuchihara's eyes zeroed in on her. "You've gained weight. Your footsteps sound heavier."

I barely blinked before Shiori had locked her arms around Kikuchihara's neck, strangling him lightly. Her smile had barely wavered, although there was now a light-threatening undertone that certainly hadn't been there before. " _Stop making up lies_ , Kikuchi!"

"…Ah, Kazama was watching too," Utagawa hurriedly added, turning away from the spectacle. "' _The choice of setting seemed more calculated than it probably was in reality_ '… was his comment."

"I mean, _he's not wrong_ ," I turned to Chika. "We did _literally_ pick randomly."

Kodera jolted in shock. " _You chose_ ** _randomly_**?!"

" _Still_ , it was a good pick." I grinned, bumping my fist against my sister's. "You even pulled off that last shot at the end, blowing up the building… I _shouldn't_ feel as proud as I am right now, but I am."

"Y _ou're definitely part of the trigger-happy crew_ ," I thought I heard Yoneya mumbled under his breath, but another voice cut in before I could register it properly.

"Oi, Mikumo," Kikuchihara cut in, hair flicking in different directions from Shiori's manhandling. "You weren't as dumb this time."

I thought back to the invasion, regardless of Utagawa's disbelief at his teammate's blunt comment. "… _Yeah_ , I guess I did alright for this match."

"—Though you better have better ideas than just blowing the nearest building up every time," He criticized. "It's not going to work again, and after a while, it'll get stupid, predictable, and annoying."

" _Don't you have_ ** _anything_** _nice to say?_ " Shiori spoke up with an easy going grin, although I could see her arms lifting to catch him in another headlock.

"Wait, Shiori," I cut her off, grabbing her sleeve to stop her from manhandling the side-effect user further. "He's not wrong, it was good advice. I need to be smarter next time, blowing everything up isn't going to work every time." I turned to Chika, who smiled encouragingly at me. "That's why I got other Triggers to use other than just the Meteora, right?"

There was short pause, which was broken by Yoneya snorting.

"… _Man_ , only someone like you would look at something Kikuchihara said, and take it as honest advice," Yoneya laughed, both arms swinging up to link behind the back of his head.

I blinked. "…But it _was_ honest advice…?"

"— _Wait_ , hold that thought." Shiori's hand rose, eyes scanning the screen from the phone. "Reiji's here to pick us up. Miku-chan, did you say you were gonna stay here?"

"Yeah, I'll probably be back later." I sighed. "Or I'll sleep over here, I dunno. I've been kind of achy all day, and I can put off dealing with the bet like this."

Shiori laughed, before starting down the hall with Chika behind her. "Well, don't push yourself! And if you get hurt—"

"—Call Kizaki, Rindou-san, or Jin, I know the drill. _Though I'd rather sleep in the snow than call Jin._ " I took a quick breath. " _Chika_ , don't stay up too late practising, ok? You deserve some rest."

I received a quick nod in return, just as my two teammates disappeared down the hall.

I didn't even have a few seconds after that before my phone buzzed in my pocket.

"Hm?" I pulled said device from its spot, holding it up to glance at quickly.

 **' _Kunichika: hey, do you want to hang out today? i can kick the guys out, and i wanna talk with you_ '**

I blinked, eyes quickly registering the words typed out across the screen. I typed out a quick affirmative to text back, as the conversation resumed around me.

" _Alrighty_!" Yoneya turned to the rest of us. "Time for some solo rank wars! How about it, you guys?"

Utagawa shook his head with an apologetic smile. "We're on duty after this."

"Oh right, you guys have the shift after Tachikawa squad, huh?" Yoneya sighed. "Maybe next time."

' _Is she texting me during her shift…? Kunichika-san, did you have to?_ '

"And we're not slackers _like you_ ," Kikuchihara retorted.

And once again, the A-rank agent found himself being strangled again. By Yoneya this time though.

"You just can't resist, can you, Kikuchihara?"

" _Ow_ ," Kikuchihara blandly muttered. "Agent abuse. No violence, please."

'… _Like cousin, like cousin, apparently._ '

Yoneya let the side-effect user go, quickly turning to me. "Four-eyes-chan, what about you?"

"I'm good, thanks," I waved a hand blankly, sighing in resignation at the familiar nickname. "I'll follow you though, Yuma will probably end up causing trouble, someway or another."

"We should probably be going now," Utagawa spoke up, glancing at the clock. "It was nice meeting you properly though, Mikumo."

" _Likewise_ ," I waved lightly, before turning to Kikuchihara. "Thanks for the feedback, Kikuchihara-senpai. ** _And the headphones_**."

I gained a few curious glances at that, but the person I was talking to only turned away with a scowl. "…They were _old_ anyway, I found them in my closet. **_Don't you dare break them._** "

"I won't," I grinned a little. "Thank you though."

-0-

"Uh… So what's up with Miwa?" I began, feeling the elevator slowly move downwards. "Is he S-rank now? I was kind of… _bleeding all over the place_ , but I did see him use the Fujin during the invasion."

' _He sucked at using it, but I won't mention that. He and Replica did get the Neighbours to go away anyway, no point in antagonizing him for now._ '

Yoneya laughed, although I could sense a tinge of discomfort. "No, Shuji's still A-rank. _And_ we're still Miwa squad."

'… _Do my dying jokes really make people that uncomfortable?_ '

"Miwa said, ' _Fujin is a powerful weapon_ '…" Kodera pushed up his glasses in this middle of his sentence. "' _But it's attacks are too specialized and it lacks adaptability'_. So he advised the senior officers that he should remain on a squad… And use Fujin as tactical situations arise."

Yoneya tilted his head with a clueless smile. " _He did?_ "

"Were you not listening?" I asked, just as the elevator ' _ding'ed_.

The doors opened slowly, and Yoneya took the lead as we walked towards the solo ranks wars lobby.

"I didn't think it was that important at the time," He laughed as we walked along. " _He told us that he wasn't S-rank_ , and that was good enough for me."

Kodera sighed lightly. "Yoneya-senpai, you should _really_ try listening. You might miss something important next time this happens…"

Yoneya laughed again, but my mind only paused as I watched the two of them walk side by side.

'… _Do they… walk just like Miwa?_ '

My eyes barely picked up the small, near-unnoticeable gesture, with both of them walking with their hands in their pockets and a slight slouch. The slouch was less pronounced with Kodera but present nonetheless.

' _I wonder_ …' I glanced down at my hand, clenching and unclenching my fist. '… _Do people pick up habits from their teammates…? I saw it earlier, people do pick things up from people they're close with, like Yoneya and Shiori… Or was that just a coincidence?_ '

I thought back as far as I could, thinking of all of the teams that I've met so far.

'… _That'd be weird. I don't think I'm picking up anything from Chika or Yuma either… But Chika did pick up my slightly explosive strategy. Is Yuma like that too now?_ ' I paused, before shaking my head frantically. ' _No, the world isn't ready for a trigger-happy Yuma. And I haven't picked up anything from them, there's no reason to jump to conclusions_.'

My eyes could help but flicker back to the two A-rank agents in front of me, and I internally slapped myself.

' _Dumb side effect. It's not even a theory useful for anything, it just sounds interesting. Stop picking up details around me that I don't need—_ '

"Oi, four-eyes-chan? You ok?"

I blinked myself out of my daze and glanced up at Yoneya.

"...Sorry, I zoned out for a bit there."

He waved a hand nonchalantly. "Don't worry about it, just checking on you. You kind of stopped there for a second."

Kodera from up ahead opened the doors to the solo rank wars lobby. He spared a worried glance to us behind him, while Yoneya and I hurried to catch up with him.

-0-

"Aw, man…. _This sucks_ …"

Midorikawa stepped out of his booth, one hand behind his head as he grimaced. "The more we do it, the less I win…"

" ** _Excellent_**." Yuma on the other hand, had a hand underneath his chin as his expression grew smug. "I'm getting the hang of this."

" _Yoneyan_ …" Midorikawa whined as the two of them walked over to us. "What was the total…?"

"21 to 9," Yoneya replied cheerily.

Midorikawa hummed and appeared to try and tally it up, before evidently giving up. "What would that be in a ten-match round…?"

"Exactly 7 to 3," Kodera answered quickly, adjusting his glasses.

' _Wait, Shiori does that too— STOP THINKING ABOUT THAT. IT'S NOT EVEN RELEVANT_.'

"7 to 3…" Midorikawa sighed. "Well, at least it's better than before…"

" _You've matured, Midorikawa_."

"Well, you were pretty even in the beginning." Yoneya laughed before his eyes flickered to the side. " _Huh_?"

"Arafune!" He called out excitedly. "You here for the solo rank wars?"

I blinked, head turning to the side. ' _See side effect, this is what happens when you get distracted. You don't notice your_ ** _previous fucking opponent_** _entering the room_ —'

"Oh." Arafune turned to us. "You guys were still here?"

"What's up, Arafune?" Midorikawa bounced over to said teenager. "Did losing to Yuma get to you?"

" _Midorikawa_ …"

And once again today, another teen found themselves latching into a headlock.

" _You told everyone I was going to lose, huh?_ " Arafune grumbled, strangling the chuckling Midorikawa.

"That's what my side effect told me," Midorikawa imitated Jin, down to the irritating grin always present on his face.

'… _I feel like this has happened a lot today…_ '

Midorikawa grinned openly after being released from the chokehold. "If you immediately resort to long-range attacks, you won't ever win a close-range battle."

"Oh yeah? You've got some _nerve_." Arafune cracked his knuckles menacingly, glaring halfheartedly down at the younger teen. "Get in the booth. I'll cut you down to size."

Neither of them got another word in, however, as a chorus of loud gasps broke the atmosphere, causing all of our heads to turn to the source.

"It's Murakami Kou…! From Suzunari-1!"

"He's Tamakoma-2's next opponent, right?!"

A green haired teen blinked in confusion, glancing around at all of the C-ranks. "…What's going on here…?"

I blinked too, because for _fuck's sake_ , did I really just meet another side effect user, or am I going crazy?

-0-

"Hey, Kou," Arafune greeted, stepping forward.

" _Arafune_ …" Murakami turned to the teen, blinking slowly. "…It's rare you see you here. I watched the recording of your match…" He smiled. "It's been a while since you used your Kogetsu, huh?"

Arafune grimaced. "Ugh, _don't watch that._ "

Yuma watched the interaction from beside me with a hum. "…Another crowd's gathering."

"That's Murakami for you." Midorikawa grinned.

"… _Suzunari_ …" Yuma pointed at Murakami while sending me a questioning glance. "That's our next opponent, right?"

I nodded slowly. "He's also the No. 4 attacker… _Tricky, tricky_."

' _…He gives off similar vibes to Kageura-san. Not just that fact that they have side effects, but that they're extremely skilled.'_ I thoughtlessly hummed, my thoughts already running around. _'Kageura-san seemed more dangerous though, maybe it was just because he has a more brash personality? Murakami, from what I've seen, seems pretty calm. Maybe he's like Yuma though, where he flips a personality switch during battle—_ '

I felt an elbow dig into my side gently, cutting me out of my thoughts. "Careful captain, I can see smoke coming out of your ears."

'The little shit's lucky I'm not out of my Trion body or that would've hurt a lot.

I swatted the back of Yuma's head absentmindedly, ignoring some of the amused glances we received from Midorikawa and Yoneya.

Murakami, evidently finished his conversation with Arafune, peeked around him to glance at Yuma. The latter let his eyes meet the formers, usual carefree expression already sliding into place.

"I'm Murakami Kou, from Suzunari-1," Murakami nodded politely. "Nice to meet you."

Yuma waved cheerily. "Nice to meet you too. I'm Kuga Yuma, Tamakoma-2."

He raised a finger over behind him, finger already pointing in between the two Miwa squad agents to point at me. "Over there is my captain, _Mori_."

I waved lightly. "Mikumo Mori."

"It _really_ is rare to see you here though, Kou." Yoneya slid, already appearing behind Yuma to ruffle his hair casually. "You here to size up this guy?"

"That's right. I wanted to see…" Murakami turned so that he could glance at both Yuma and me. "The rookie who cut down Arafune… As well as the team who's strategy forced him to draw his Kogetsu."

' _Oh, we're being taken pretty seriously._ ' I internally hummed. ' _Too bad I didn't really have a strategy when I was doing all of that, it was mostly just improv. More expectations I can't live up to, I guess._ '

"Tamakoma-2 seems pretty tough," Murakami finished.

Arafune sighed from beside Murakami. " _Don't make me sound like old news…_ "

"I'm glad Midorikawa's here though," Murakami began, completely ignoring the other teen. "Help me practice."

The answer was quick, decisive, and accompanied by absolutely no hesitation.

" ** _No way!_** " Midorikawa crossed his arms into an 'x', before jabbing his thumb over at Yuma with a pout. "I've already lost enough points to this guy. _I can't afford to lose anymore today._ "

 ** _"Oh,"_** Yuma's voice rang out through my communicator, slightly surprising me. I sent a quick glance over his way, but his expression gave nothing away as he barely looked in my direction, or moved his mouth. **_"So he's someone that Midorikawa deems a formidable opponent."_**

 ** _"I literally just mentioned that he's the No. 4 attacker,"_** I scolded through the communicators, only half-listening to the conversation going on around us. **_"Besides, I think he has… some '_ tricks _' up his sleeve. Postures pretty relaxed too, definitely skilled."_**

Yuma however, only latched onto the first bit of information. **_"…Oho? Is that Mori-speak for '_ side effect _'?"_** I watched a spark of interest light in his red eyes —somehow without catching anyone else's attention— and I somehow knew that I had lost the battle I didn't know I was fighting.

My eyes widened, and I shot him a quick pleading glance behind Yoneya's back. **_"Yuma, don't you fucking dare—"_**

"Well then," Yuma spoke out loud, smoothly cutting into the separate conversation as he apparently listened. "You could fight _me_."

As I watched shock settle into everyone's expressions, a pit dug itself into my stomach. **_"Oh... That's not a good sign."_**

Yuma evidently heard my comment but forged on regardless. "Wouldn't that be the fastest way to measure your opponent? _Our team_ would like to know how you fight too."

 ** _"Yuma, we can look at the logs,"_** I hissed into the communicator without my mouth moving. Though if anyone was looking closely enough, they could probably see a small crease to my forehead. **_"The both of us know that all of your reasons are horse-shit, you just want to fight him!"_**

I could picture his smug grin in my mind's eye, although he currently wasn't wearing it. **_"Ah. You caught me."_**

 ** _"Don't '_ Ah, you caught me _', you idiot! I'm going to bounce your head off a fucking wall!"_**

It's amazing that our faces didn't give away the argument currently going on.

( _Even though I didn't really care what he did, as long as he had fun. Most of this was just banter for the sake of bantering, although every once in a while, it_ ** _did_** _grate on my nerves_.)

"…Well…" Murakami visibly hesitated on taking Yuma up on his offer.

"Don't do it, Kuga." Arafune refused instead, drawing Yuma's attention over to him. "You'll _jeopardize_ your next match."

Yuma's face morphed into something more puzzled and confused, although his mind was already working quicker than anyone else could have ever expected from his clueless expression.

 ** _"Yeah, a side effect seems pretty high on the list of possibilities here. Judging by everyone's expressions, it's probably pretty impressive and well-known too."_** His hum resounded in my ear. **_"Maybe it's something similar to yours, like information processing…?"_**

 ** _"Yeah, and you offered to fight him!"_** I reminded quickly. **_"And knowing you, there's no way you'll take his refusal to fight lying down!"_**

 ** _"Knowing me, '_ there's no way I'll take his refusal to fight lying down' _,"_** He repeated dully, although I could hear an underlying hint of excitement. **_"Oh man, I wonder how tough he is."_**

 ** _"YOU'RE NOT LISTENING TO ANYTHING I'M FUCKING SAYING!"_**

( _If he pulls off a win, maybe I'll treat him to cake. I haven't baked in a while anyway, since I got stabbed and went into a coma_.)

(… _The duality of my personality sometimes frightens me._ )

"Well… We could keep our mouths shut about this, but that doesn't seem fair." Yoneya scratched the top of his head before his hand slid down to rub the back of his neck, a grimace crossing his face. "…You see, _Arafune's right_. It'll be better for you if you... Wait until the real thing."

"Hm… But now, I want to fight him _even more,_ " Yuma retorted casually.

 ** _"If they're saying we should '_ wait until the real thing _', then it's probably something that learns quicker with experience,"_** Yuma reasoned ' _out-loud_ ', letting me hear and contribute to his thought process. **_"If it wasn't, they would've let me fight him right now to get some information on it ahead of time."_**

 ** _"I get where you're coming from, so we should probably listen to them,"_** I argued weakly, despite knowing how absolutely ineffective it was. **_"I think you're on the right track though, so it's most definitely a side effect. C'mon, we can ask Shiori tomorrow. Her and Konami probably already know."_**

 ** _"Aw, but where's the fun in that?"_** His voice came out teasing. ** _"Besides, if I don't get to fight him, I'll get_ him _to fight_ YOU _."_**

My mind blanked out on that one. ' _Wait, what?_ '

"…I don't really understand, but we're going to lose out of something if I fight him now, right?" Yuma spoke to everyone around us, after a moment of silence over the comms to determine that I would remain silent. "I know for a _fact_ that Yosuke and Arafune aren't lying… But that just makes me even more curious." Yuma's eyes sharpened, red orbs landing on Murakami across from him. "Now… _I really want to know._ "

" _…I see_." Murakami replied, after a long moment of silence. "There's not much data on Tamakoma-2, so I'd jump at the chance to fight you firsthand. But…" He paused, lifting up two fingers. "I have two conditions."

I was only half listening though.

" _If I don't get to fight him, I'll get him to fight you_ ", " _If I don't get to fight him, I'll get him to fight you_ "…. Kept ringing inside my head.

(.. _.Yuma, I wouldn't even last 2 fucking seconds per match. Yuma._ ** _Are you trying to kill me_** _._ )

"For the first condition, we have a ten round match. And second… We take a 15-minute break after five rounds."

Murakami lowered his hand with a calm expression. "Are you still ok with this?"

Yuma grinned excitedly. "Yeah." And I thought he was about to leave it there and head off to a booth.

He paused instead though, stopping halfway in the motion to step into one of the booths. Everyone watched in slight curiosity as Yuma spun around on his feet, and walked forward to stand right in front of me.

A chill ran down my spine at the smug expression covering his face.

" _Captain_ ," He began cheekily. " _Do I have permission to fight?_ "

That snapped me straight out of my daze.

I slid my glove off of my hand and to everyone's astonishment, slapped Yuma across the face with it with a loud ' _THWACK_ '.

" ** _DON'T ASK FOR PERMISSION IF YOU WERE JUST GOING TO IGNORE WHATEVER I SAID IN THE FIRST PLACE!_** "

Yuma's loud, boisterous laughs resounded throughout the lobby, the slap rendering ineffective in his Trion body.

( _I'll apologize for hitting him later. Maybe when no one else is around_.)

-0-

"So that's the halfway point…Huh?"

I huffed quietly, sinking into the lobby couches despite Yoneya's attempts to start a conversation. " _Dumb Yuma_."

 ** _"Aw c'mon~"_** I heard his voice resound through my communicator, just before a long ' _slurp_ ' echoed in my ear. **_"I thought it was funny."_**

 ** _"First of all,"_** I began. ** _"Don't sip your drink so close to the communicator, that's really fucking loud. And second, fuck you."_**

 ** _"You don't really mean that,"_** He retorted playfully, and I huffed because _fuck him, I won't admit it_. **_"Honestly though… I wanted to see his so-called '_ side effect _' in action. Just hearing someone tell me about how it works isn't the same."_**

The slurps came to an abrupt halt, and Yuma whined after a moment of silence. **_"I'm all out of water."_**

 ** _"Sucks to be you."_** I kicked my legs up, already getting up and off of the couch. I ignored the curious glances of Yoneya, Kodera, and Arafune as I stomped off towards the hallway doors.

"Where're you going?" Yoneya asked curiously, an eyebrow raised. "The 15-minute break is almost over."

"I'm getting a drink," I muttered behind me just after flicking my communicator off. "I already know Yuma's going to lose anyway, for _whatever_ reason."

I didn't get a reply to that and reached the doors peacefully. The attention of any curious B and C-rankers was directed at the screens showing Yuma and Murakami's fight, thankfully away from me.

"Good _grief_ ," I muttered under my breath, stepping up to the vending machine across the hall from the lobby doors. "Which drinks does Yuma even _fucking like…_?"

' _I don't think he's tried strawberry milk yet,_ ' I thought, eyes scanning over the options. ' _Though maybe he drank it while I was unconscious. I'll need to ask him later, but I know for sure that he seems to like the orange soda… I'll get some for myself too_.'

I popped a few coins into the slot and pressed the button twice, watching boredom as the drink tumbled out of its place on the shelf, dropping down to the drink retrieval slot. I watched the second bottle hit the bottom before a random thought occurred to me.

' _Don't the drinks get shaken up if they land like tha—?!_ '

Something looped itself around my neck, and I found myself with a fist digging into the side of my head as a voice loudly resounded in my ears.

"AH, IT'S YOU! _I KNEW REMEMBERED YOU!_ "

I choked.

( _That was because I was being choked, not because I recognized the person choking me_.)

-0-

" ** _HARK!_** "

" _AHHH!_ " Taketomi shrieked, ripping the headphones off of her ears in surprise. "T-Tachikawa?!"

"Let me hear too!" The No. 1 A-rank agent yelled, stepping towards the operator and her precious computer. "Azuma was commentating today, wasn't he?!"

"Whoa, Tachikawa-san, calm down." Izumi stepped into the room with a grin, right behind his excited captain. "We can just ask to borrow the files, _right_? No need to cause a scene."

"She has a right to give it to us!" Yuiga trumpeted loudly, proudly marching in behind his two teammates. "After all, we're No.1—!"

Izumi delivered a swift kick to his teammate's side. " _Yuiga,_ ** _shut it._** "

"— ** _GWBAH!_** "

"' _Gwbah_ '?" Tachikawa spun around with a snort, a hand held in front of his mouth in amusement. "Did you just say ' _gwbah_ ', Yuiga?"

" _It was because Izumi-senpai kicked me!_ " Yuiga complained loudly while clutching his side, the volume causing Taketomi to wince. "This is abuse!"

" _Please, just get out of my room…_ " Taketomi whined, clutching her headphones to her chest with tears in her eyes. "…I don't have any recordings of the rank wars match today…"

"You know that _never_ works," Tachikawa blankly retorted, before holding his hand out. "C'mon, I _just_ wanna borrow it. We were on defence duty today during the matches, and I wanna hear Azuma's commentating."

 ** _"Now, now, boys,"_** Kunichika's voice resounded in the three boys' communicators. **_"Ask nicely, I'm sure she'll give you the clips."_**

Izumi paused, just before his hand rose to his ear. "Yuu, you're not usually this complacent with taking the video files like this... Did something catch your attention?"

 ** _"Eheheh…"_** Kunichika chuckled softly. **_"I wanted to watch Mori-chan's first match… My precious Kohai was so worried about it, she texted me last night to ramble about how nervous she was~"_**

Izumi blinked. " _Mori_ …? The four-eyes?"

"' _Precious Kohai_ '?!" Yuiga shrieked out loud, forgetting about the internal function for the communicators, and causing Taketomi to glance at him in surprise and shock.

"Why are you guys using your communicators without me—?! _Scratch that_ , just get out of my operator room!"

 ** _"Oh by the way,"_** Kunichika cut in smoothly over the radio. **_"I invited Mori-chan to talk with me about it later. So you guys can't come back to the operator room, or I'll just kick you out again."_**

" ** _WHAT_**?!" Tachikawa yelled, jumping up from his spot. " _But I need the computer!_ "

 ** _"Borrow Kazama-san's!"_** Kunichika deflected. **_"Mikami-chan will let you in if you ask nicely, or you can go bother Ren-chan! She might be the only other operator_ willing to put up with you _!"_**

" _Wait, but Yuu!_ " Izumi interrupted in a hurry. "I left some croquettes on the table for after our defence duty shift! _Can I at least go grab—!_ "

 ** _"Nope!"_** She cheerfully cut him off. **_"They'll make good snacks though, thanks a lot!"_**

"Wait, **_croquettes_**?!" Tachikawa spun around, drooling slightly. " _You left croquettes on the table? When did you even buy them?!_ "

" _You can't shut us out of our own room, Kunichika-san!_ " Yuiga shrieked indignantly. " _HOW COULD YOU! I'LL CALL MY LAWYER—!_ "

" ** _NEVER MIND THAT!_** " Taketomi finally exploded, shoving a disk into Tachikawa's hands before pushing them out the door with a shriek. " _GET OUT OF MY SQUAD'S ROOM!_ "

-0-

"Still, that wasn't a bad fight," Yoneya praised, ruffling Yuma's hair. "I didn't expect you to win 4 times right off the bat, pretty good."

Yuma hummed, an eyebrow flattened. " _Still_ …"

"It didn't really matter in the end though." Arafune grinned, standing beside Murakami with a slightly smug—slightly proud smile. "Murakami beat you 5-0 in the second half."

" _It was only in the second half!_ " Yoneya backs Yuma up, although the latter seemed to be more preoccupied with his thoughts. "Yuma will beat him _next time_."

"Yoneya-senpai, beating Murakami-senpai's side effect would be _very_ difficult..." Kodera cut in meekly.

" ** _Shohei, you're supposed to be on_ my _side!_** "

The doors to the lobby swung open loudly, successfully grabbing the attention of everyone in the vicinity.

Yoneya spun around to glance at the newcomers, before waving cheerfully. "Four-eyes-chan…?" He paused, eyes sliding to the person beside Mori. " _…And a tag-a-long…_?"

Arafune blinked. " ** _Inukai_** ," He greeted in surprise. "I didn't think you were around right now."

"Well, I heard about some rookies coming around and messing with the rankings!" The blonde waved cheerfully beside Mori, a stark contrast to the dark cloud that seemed to loom over her head. " _Then_ I go and run into one of them, _and what do you know!_ She's the one that—"

" _Oh my god,_ ** _will you drop it!?_** " Mori finally burst out, causing nearly everyone but Yuma and Inukai to take a surprised step back. "That was **_literally_** years ago!"

" _You pushed me!_ " Inukai retorted childishly, although there was no heat to his words.

"I barely remember you! _How did you even recognize me?!_ "

Inukai opened his mouth, presumably to repeat his previous statement. "You _pushed_ —"

" _Inukai_ ," Arafune cut in, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose exasperatedly. " _What are you talking about_ …? You two know each other?"

Inukai turned to the male, allowing Mori to sigh with relief as his attention redirected itself. "We didn't really talk, but I saw her a while ago at one point. _She pushed me._ "

Mori let out an aggravated sigh, and Yoneya chuckled in amusement in the background. "Four-eyes, you have some really weird luck, huh?"

"Where'd you meet?" Murakami asked curiously, glancing at his blonde friend.

Inukai tilted his head with a contemplative hum, as Mori's head dropped slightly. "Hm… Was it, _a funeral?_ "

 ** _I ran past everyone gathered at the entrance, pushing aside another blonde teen as I dashed into the house. I ignored the indignant 'hey!' as I slammed the door shut behind me, prying my shoes off in an instant and running through the halls._**

" _Something like that_ ," Mori mumbled bleakly, ignoring the sudden expressions of surprise around them. It seemed like a change of subject was needed. "I _still_ don't get how you recognized me though."

Inukai laughed, tossing an arm over her shoulder in an overly friendly manner. " _I'll tell you_ , those glasses are very distinctive. Besides, _that was a day that I don't think I'll ever forget_."

Mori's shoulders slumped, already having given up on pushing him away. "My glasses aren't _that_ distinctive…"

' _Border agents are always so annoyingly stubborn… And touchy._ '

" ** _Captain_** _, didn't you say that you had somewhere to be?_ " Yuma cut in blankly, and the ice in his tone caused everyone to turn to him in shock. "You said you got a text _earlier_."

Mori blinked, mind already flashing to the text from Kunichika earlier. "Ah, you're right." Inukai's grip slackened, and she slipped underneath his arm quickly before walking over to Yuma.

She hesitated on what to do next though, and Yuma tilted his head.

"…What do you need?" He asked, and his tone was thankfully back to normal this time.

Mori's lips pressed together into a flat line, and she held out a bottle of orange soda to him. This, once again, surprised everyone around them, as she sighed. "…You said you ran out, at the halfway point."

Yuma was silent, before taking the bottle with a grin. "Thanks, **_captain_**."

Mori backed away quickly once the bottle was handed off, hand gripping the bottle she had gotten for herself loosely. She glanced down at it quickly, and back towards a clock hanging high on a far wall.

She tossed the bottle to Inukai instead, being the second closest person. " _I don't have time to drink that,_ this'll make up for me pushing you!"

Before anyone could say a word, she had run through the crowds of C-rankers and out of the room.

-0-

Inukai blinked, hands having caught the bottle deftly once it had been thrown. "… _Pop_?"

Yoneya shrugged. "I thought she was going home earlier, but I _guess_ she was getting a drink for the shrimp."

Arafune glanced back at the short white-haired attacker, who was still staring at the bottle in his hand with a slightly fond expression. "…Those two didn't _initially_ seem all that friendly. Maybe I need to re-evaluate that assessment, they're **_clearly_** _closer than meets the eye_."

"It seemed like they trust each other though," Kodera spoke up. "….Although they show it in a _strange_ way—"

" _Still that was nice of her,_ huh?" Yoneya interrupted, eyes quickly catching Yuma walking closer and into earshot of the conversation. "Getting you guys some drinks…?"

Yuma nodded, stepping beside the two Miwa-Squad agents. "I _guess_ it was nice."

Inukai laughed. "She did say, ' _to make up for pushing you_ '!"

"Still, Inukai-san, I'm surprised you popped up like that," Murakami sighed. "A ' _funeral_ '…? The situation got awkward very easily…"

"Well, I was telling the truth! _A funeral was the closest thing that could describe it!_ " Inukai laughed with a smile, and no one noticed the edge of bitterness in his expression. "Four-Eyes _did_ seem interesting though!"

His hands gripped the bottle cap, and twisted.

Safe to say, no one expected the explosion of orange soda, spraying the drink up and into the blonde's face.

The explosion ended as quickly as it came, leaving the bland faced, smiling Inukai completely soaked from the assault of orange pop.

There were exactly two seconds of silence after that spectacle, before Yoneya's quiet snort kicked off all of the chaos.

Everyone, including the C-rankers, burst into laughter, everyone staring at the thoroughly soaked and surprised Inukai.

Yuma chortled loudly for exactly three seconds as his fingers wrapping around the bottle in his own hand, before he too, found himself soaked.

-0-

"Mori-chan, come in, _come in_ ," Kunichika opened the door with a flourish, smiling brightly. "Sorry to text you on short notice, but I wanted to talk to you about your match!"

"Ah, thanks." I awkwardly stepped into the room, Trion body now deactivated to avoid Yuma contacting me via communicator. " _Sorry to intrude_."

"There's no intruding here, don't worry!" She held up a bowl of croquettes which, with a quick scan of the room, deemed to have been from the recently opened box on the table. Judging by the slight condensation on the bottom of the box lid, they were still hot. "I have some croquettes for us to eat while we chat, so just sit down on the couch."

I quickly thanked the world that it was a _couch_ , because my limbs were aching _far too much_ for sitting in a chair to have been comfortable.

The cushions were actually surprisingly soft, and the room was littered with small items that made the area seem well-lived in, although not well cared for.

"… _Does no one like cleaning around here, or something?_ "

"Nope, Tachikawa-san and Izumi are both _quite lazy_ on that front. I _swear_ , sometimes those two are like _brothers_ ," She answered serenely, and I blushed slightly at my remark being heard. "Yuiga's just _spoiled_ , so he doesn't feel like he has to clean."

' _Yuiga?_ ' I silently wondered, before pushing the thought away. "…Are you going home after this?"

"Ah, I don't think so," She admitted, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly while biting into a croquette with a satisfied smile. "I have some new games I bought with our reward money, and I haven't gotten around to playing a few of them yet. And I have a bed here at HQ to sleep in, so I'll probably just sleep over…"

"They let you do that?" I questioned in surprise. "Sleep over?"

"Eh, it's not _recommended_ ," She laughed, gesturing at a small stack of papers placed haphazardly on a nearby shelf. "Tachikawa-san forgets to do his paperwork a lot too, for the defence duty reports. Sometimes he ends up staying over and sleeping on the couch so he can finish them."

' _Someone so high-ranking can just_ ** _forget_** _about writing the reports?!_ '

"But _anyways_ …" She grinned at me, nudging the bowl of croquettes towards me. "How was your match? I haven't gotten to see the video yet, but I had Tachikawa-san steal it from Taketomi-chan for me."

"Ah…" I thought about what to say first. "…I… _blew up a building_ …?"

'… _Nailed it_.'

"Really?" She paused, before bending over from where she was sitting, and letting out a loud laugh. "I should've known you were the destructive type from the large-scale invasion reports, but I wasn't expecting _this_ for your first rank wars match! I definitely have to watch the video later, it's probably funny!"

"… _Large-scale invasion report?_ " I repeated questioningly. "What's that?"

"Oh, _that old thing?_ Nothing much," She waved off, loud laughter depending into small chuckles. "Just a bunch of scattered reports from most of the main agents summarized into one big paper… Including areas that were destroyed, how many Neighbours were taken down, who did what, _etcetera, etcetera_."

"Oh." A destroyed road flashed through my mind as I paled. "… _Where Yuma and I took down the first Rabbit…_ Huh?"

"Yeah, the block was nearly decimated." She laughed again. " _Yuma_ … He's the Neighbour, right?"

"… ** _Yeah_**." I shrugged, stuffing a croquette in my mouth to hide my slight distaste for the sudden turn of topic. "He's the ' _Neighbour_ '."

'… _I forgot. To everyone that was involved in retrieving his black Trigger, which is nearly half of the A-ranks… He's_ ** _just_** _a Neighbour_.'

"Now, _don't look so down_!" Kunichika's cheery voice cut through my train of thought. "I didn't mean anything by it when I said it like that!"

I couldn't help the slight dubiousness that slipped through my tone. "… _Did you_."

"I _didn't_ ," She reassured, more seriously this time. "I just don't know very many other _defining_ _qualities_ about him. Did you know, that for the two weeks you were unconscious, he was practically _silent_?"

" _He was?_ " I burst out, my head snapping up in surprise. I didn't have time to be embarrassed about my outburst though before she began to speak again.

"He was just training quietly, the _entire time_." She nodded, eyes flickering up as she hummed in thought. "Any time he was at HQ, he was avoiding as many people as he could, and just using one of the private training rooms." She paused, before huffing. "I don't blame him though. Everyone that he knew was pretty much avoiding him, and Amatori-chan **_too_**. Just out of _guilt_ for letting you get hurt."

"… _I didn't know that…_ " My quiet mutter came. "I mean, Yuma told me that things were quiet for a few weeks, and he didn't talk to anyone really, but… _Really_?"

"Really _really_." She tossed another croquette into her mouth, leaving just three in the bowl. "Tachikawa-san was going to challenge him to a match since Jin was off moping somewhere else _too_ , but he suddenly backed off after I showed him a picture of his captain, _you_. I wonder why…?"

' _Does he somehow remember me from the invasion…?_ ' I mentally shook my head. ' _No, there's no way. I was in my C-rank uniform at the time, and he only had a second to look at me before he chopped the street into 5 pieces. And at the time, he was too preoccupied with_ —'

 ** _"Hey, Neighbour… Where's my shooter?"_**

A shiver went down my spine. ' _Jesus, that was_ ** _terrifying_**.'

"Whatever, I kinda wanna meet him." Kunichika rocked back and forth in her seat, despite the couch being stationary. "… _Yuma-kun_ , I mean. He's gotta be something _special_ if Jin spoke so highly of him." She paused, before chuckling and pointing at me. " _Kinda like_ ** _you_** _!_ "

I choked.

" ** _WHA_** — Ok, I'll admit that Yuma's definitely amazing, but _me_ ** _too_**?!" I coughed, trying to erase the tickle in my throat that formed from choking. "I—" _Cough_. "—I'm not really _anything_ —!"

"Now now, there's no point in _lying_!" Kunichika's cheery voice rang out, just before she patted me on the shoulder. "Everyone was interested in your team when _Jin_ gave his vote of confidence in your strength, but after the most recent rank wars match that I have yet to see?" She laughed. "You shouldn't doubt your strength so much, it only causes issues for yourself in the end!"

I sputtered.

"But really, you're _very_ insistent on praising Yuma-san~!" She sang, as she patiently guided me towards the door. "Maybe the two of you are dating~?Don't worry though, _I won't tell anyone_!"

" _What the fuck_ ," Was hastily pushed out of my mouth, before I found myself walking back to Tamakoma's operator room in a daze.

-0-

I barely managed to clear my mind of all of my previous baffled embarrassment, when I had arrived at Tamakoma's operator room.

I barely managed to open the door though, before I was greeted rather abruptly by my partner in crime.

" _You pranked me_ ," Yuma began ' _harshly_ ', although I could hear a hint of pride and amusement in his tone. " _You fucking_ ** _pranked_** _me_."

" ** _Language_** ," I retorted lightly, already slipping into our casual banter. Although he raised an eyebrow at the slight blush that had refused to go away, he dropped it.

"Are you ready to go home now?" He sat up from where he'd been lying on the ground, already slipping his mini-Replica back into his pocket. "You said I could sleep over this morning, _remember_?"

"Yeah, _I know_." I laughed, before grabbing my jacket off of the chair despite the throb in my leg and shoulder. "You brought clothes for tomorrow, right?"

He shrugged, loose sweater already on as he stepped out of the room with me. "Don't mother-hen me—"

"I'm not ' _mother-henning_ ' you!"

"—I'm still feeling weird." His usually present duckface was back, although his eyebrows were creased in irritation. "My stomach was really weird when you got back after my match."

I wrapped my scarf around my neck with a frown as my eyes slid towards his direction. "…Are you upset about losing against Murakami…?"

"No, not that." He denied instantly, eyebrows scrunching further. "…It's Inukai. _I don't like him_."

" _Why wouldn't you…—?_ " I paused, the rest of the walk going back near silently as we made our way the Border-HQ's front door.

When we had stepped out into the cold, however, the wind biting at my cheeks, did the answer slap me in the face.

"…Yuma." I paused, turning towards him with a quirked eyebrow. "… _Were you jealous_?"

He hummed in thought for a moment before abruptly freezing, my eyes catching a sudden tenseness to his frame that hadn't been present before. His walking pace quickened, and an uncharacteristic smirk crossed my face as I matched his speed.

" _You know what, I don't think I felt sick after all_ ," He amended nonchalantly in a calm tone, eyes trained straight ahead as he whistled. " _It was just me being dramatic. You know, I'm not really used to losing against someone that badly, probably just feeling under the weather_."

"Oh my god, you _were_ jealous!" I cackled, walking just a step ahead so I could look back at his face. A dull throb rang through my thigh in response, but the amusement blocked out most of the pain. " _I thought you sounded colder than usual when you got me to leave, but you—_ ** _Jealous_** _!?_ "

"I wasn't _jealous_ ," He retorted evenly, and I didn't sense any bite to it. If anything, there might've been a faint tinge of embarrassment to his tone. He paused though, steps coming to a halt as he swung around to face me. "… _Do friends get jealous_?"

I met out a hum muffled by my scarf while shrugging. "… _I think so_." I lifted up a finger, the two of us continuing to slowly walk down the city's sidewalk. "Once, I got really jealous of Rinji when mom made her infamous cake for him. _It was his birthday_ , but I got mad and sulked anyway. I was a kid, so I thought she liked him more than me."

Yuma let out a snort. "Kasumi-san makes the best food though, that's where _you_ got it from. You had a right to be jealous."

I could feel a cold wind brush by, and I shivered just looking at Yuma. The only layer he was wearing that was even remotely warm, was the thin, black hoodie he had on.

"I got upset at Rinji a lot of times," I laughed lightly. "He was always irritating me, _someway or another_. It was usually playful though…"

(… _Kind of like Jin…?_ )

I brushed the thought away. "Rinji was naturally irritating, but I considered him a big brother. Once, for my birthday, I told him I didn't have a party because I didn't have any friends at school. So he took it upon himself to throw me a surprise party, no matter how much of a short notice it was. It was fun, even though it was a mess."

" _Eh_ …?" Yuma drawled, a small smile curling at his lips while he watched me. "Rinji seems like a weird guy. I kinda wanna meet him."

I laughed. " _Oh_ , you should hear about the time he—"

" _HEY! FOUR-EYES,_ ** _STOP RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE_** _!_ "

I did stop, Yuma not far behind me. Only because it was _polite_ though.

I quickly realized though, that the manners should have been reserved for someone else, as three familiar figures strode up in front of us.

"Eida, Bito… and _Shiihara… is it_? Whatever, _the moron trio._ " I could even barely remember their names but honestly, _I couldn't care less_. "To who do I owe the pleasure?"

"You four-eyes, getting cocky, _huh_?!" The leader began with a scowl, jabbing a finger in my face. "Seem to think you're all cool like that, skipping school. You think you're hot shit, _huh_?!"

'… _How many times do they need to say "huh"…?_ '

Yuma was quiet, for the most part.

( ** _For the most part_**.)

He turned to me silently, pointing a finger in their direction. "… _Should I know them_?"

I sighed heavily.

" _Huh,_ ** _punk_** _?!_ " The leader screamed. " _YOU DON'T FUCKIN' REMEMBER ME?!_ ** _HUH?!_** "

"My leg and shoulder hurt," I mumbled boredly. "Can we finish this quickly?"

"You don't need to move a muscle if it hurts, Mori." Yuma twisted his arm around, other hand grasping his shoulder as he whistled a tune, stepping closer to them. " _This'll only take a second_." He tossed the bag slung over his shoulder beside me, the sack harshly hitting the cement next to my feet.

" ** _WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOU—_** "

-0-

I tossed my scarf over Yuma's head, wrapping it twice around his neck firmly.

"Hm?" His signature duck face hadn't wavered, staying firmly in its places he glanced down at the cloth. "What's this?"

"My _scarf_ , you troublesome Neighbour," I snorted, feeling a chilly breeze run by my neck. "I'm cold just _fucking_ **_looking_** _at you_."

"Oh, Mori's scarf, huh?" He patted the cloth with one hand, grabbing my hand with the other as he walked out of the alleyway. Three unconscious and beaten up bodies were propped up against the wall, right next to the trash can. "I _promise_ not to wreck it."

"Well, I guess _you're keeping it,_ " I sighed, a small smile tugging at my lips. "C'mon, it's late. I guess I finally need to go to school tomorrow… What a bother."

I didn't get any butterflies, and no embarrassment rose in my throat as he dragged me. I didn't feel a spark when he held my hand either, and no blush lit up my face on fire. All I felt, was the cold temperature of his Trion-bodied hand.

And that was comforting.

-0-

When Mori switched schools after the incident in elementary, she made two simple rules for herself.

 ** _1\. Don't interact with anyone. It makes things easier if they never get a solid enough impression of you._**

It was simple. Go to school , take notes, eat lunch, go home. Meet with Chika and Rinji, talk with mom.

That's all.

 ** _2\. Don't attract attention. Obey the rules, although some sarcasm might make it's way through._**

Simple. Be the law-abiding four-eyes that Yuma thought I was at first. Don't fight back, don't start a fight in the first place.

That was it.

( _When did she stop caring about what people like them thought…?_ )

( _When did she start fighting back, if just for the reason that people like them didn't matter?_ )


	13. Warrior

_**Quick A/N -**_

 _ **aaaAAAHHH MORE COMMENTS!**_

 _ **FIrst of all- thank you so much to all of the people that were reading this story before, and waited patiently for dumb-ol' me to update! It means so much to me, and I'm sorry this chapter came so late!**_

 _ **And second, thank you to everyone who found this story after the last chapter, and thought it was good enough to continue reading! Your follows, favourites, and/or reviews mean the world to me!**_

 _ **Alright, and without further ado, please enjoy the chapter! Thank you for your support and patience!**_

* * *

"…Mikumo?!"

I gave a lazy wave, stretching my cheeks into a sickeningly sweet smile as I stepped into the classroom. " _Hi_."

Mizunuma continued to gape at me, although Moribayashi had already recovered and tapped a finger in my face. " ** _WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!_** Skipping school for so many weeks is _not_ ** _only_** unacceptable but also—!"

"Sorry Mizunuma-sensei," I interrupted, peeking around Moribayashi to wave at the friendlier teacher. "My house got destroyed in during the invasion, so I ended up joining Border to raise enough money for us to find a new place to live. _Sorry_ I haven't been around."

The classroom was deathly silent, and my eyes quickly caught the paling faces of the three, still slightly battered morons in the back.

' _Good_ ,' I thought for a moment, before I outwardly laughed sheepishly, ducking my head as I stepped towards my seat. ' _Don't come after me every again, troublesome idiots_.'

My eyes flickered around, just as Yuma gave me a sneaky thumbs up. I laughed under my breath in return, seating myself down in my seat as Moribayashi hesitantly started up the class again.

'…I guess that's the excuse I'm going with.'

I hesitantly sent him a thumbs up back.

I barely saw Miyoshi's eyes sparkling from the other side of the classroom, his bright eyes locked on me.

( _Oh fuck, I forgot about the Border fanboy._ ** _Shit_** _—_ )

-0-

"Alright!" I pumped my fist up, shoving a cookie into my mouth with my other hand. "The battle against Suzunari and Nasu squads is the day _after_ tomorrow!"

Chika gave a polite clap, Shiori adjusted her glasses, and Yuma nonchalantly shoved a cookie into his mouth.

"You seem more excited than usual, Miku-chan," Shiori smiled. "Are you really that happy about how the Suwa and Arafune match went?"

" _Oh buddy_ , you have **_no_** idea," I switched arms to pump my other fist up. "I'm also considering switching my Trigger set around again—"

" _Again_?!" Shiori wailed. "Miku-chan, you _just_ started to settle in with the last one!"

"—And I'm also excited to see what a master class shooter can do," I finished off with a slight grin. "I didn't get to see Izumi-senpai in action too much during the invasion, but _I think_ I heard a few rumours that Nasu Rei is one of the closest to him in terms of skill! Barring the Trion difference, of course."

"Does he have as much Trion as me?" Chika asked curiously, completely oblivious.

Shiori snorted. " _Not even close_ , sorry Chika-chan. Izumi may be a prodigy in terms of Trion, _but you're a monster_."

Yuma tilted his head in my direction. "Still, why don't you just _ask_ Izumi for advice, if you want to see how other shooters operate in battle—"

"— _Aaaaannnndddd_ that's where I draw the line!" I huffed, chucking another cookie into my mouth. "Yeah, _there's_ ** _no_** _way I'm doing that_."

" _Got it_." Yuma saluted to me, a familiar smug expression slowly surfacing on his face. "Captain's too scared to talk to the No. 1—"

" ** _Shut_**!" I jabbed a finger in his side, although he only laughed it off easily. "I don't need you to throw that in my face!"

"You should have seen big sister when we met Izumi-san, during the invasion," Chika began playfully, a soft smile of her face as I rapidly paled. "She was answering calmly to whatever he asked, but she wouldn't look him in the eyes and her face looked like she was choking."

I buried my flushed face in my hands, slumping down on the couch next to Yuma. "…Chika, _why do you torment me like this_ …?"

Yuma guffawed, the sound practically reverberating in my head. "Mori, you didn't tell me **_that_** happened! How could you, neglecting to let your best friend know about an embarrassing moment—"

I groaned. "Shut… _Up_ …."

"Miku-chan's surprisingly cute when she's embarrassed," Shiori commented across the couch, nearly making me choke. "…Or when she's sleepy. _Say_ , Yuma, do you remember the photo we got of her sleeping on the couch with you?"

My head snapped up from where I cradled it in my hands, eyes blown wide as my face burned red. "What?" My voice came out strangled.

"Oh, _I do_." Yuma smiled, although the hint of smugness in it gave him away to me. "I saved it on the phone Jin got me."

" _What_ photo?!" I whipped my head around between the two of them. " ** _When_**?!"

"It was very cute," Chika admitted softly, having taken pity on me as she held up her phone in front of me. "I actually saved it as my lock screen…."

I promptly turned towards the aforementioned device, before screaming.

-0-

" _WHAT HAPPENED_?!" Konami screamed, suddenly throwing the door open. " _It sounded like someone was murdered_!"

"Miku-chan's _certainly_ acting like she was." Shiori sighed, patting the young teen's back with false sympathy as Mori rocked back and forth. The teen had buried her face in her arms and curled up into a ball on the couch, while Yuma and Shiori had switched spots.

Yuma, from his spot now beside Chika, was looking very smug.

"She makes it so easy," He only offered, throwing another cookie in his mouth. "She gets embarrassed _so easily_."

Shiori turned to him, arm still patting Mori's back comfortingly. " _You're_ ** _not_** _helping_!"

"Big sister, there's _really_ no reason to be shy," Chika cut in soothingly. "No matter how strange your and Yuma's relationship is, we've all accepted the fact that you two are quite close."

"I _still_ don't get why you two wouldn't want to date each other!" Shiori added with a pout. "You two would be _so cute_!"

"I think I'd rather drink a tube of that…" Yuma snapped his fingers impatiently, trying to recall the word, before giving up and turning to Konami. "… The green stuff."

" _Wasabi_." She offered blandly.

"Yeah, _that_." He turned back to Shiori. "We're just not interested."

"I think I'd rather be mistaken for dating Jin than Yuma," Mori finally spoke up, looking a little red in the face, although it was quickly fading. "I like Yuma better _as a person_ , but there's just something… _fundamentally_ wrong with the idea of trying to date him."

"There's not something fundamentally wrong with the idea of dating Jin?" Konami asked, already a little disturbed with the idea herself.

"You guys are really strange sometimes." Karasuma peeked his head out from behind the door, having apparently been right behind Konami. He stepped into the room and snatched a cookie from the bowl on the table, just before Konami did the same.

"Wait, _speaking of which_ —!" Yuma pointed at Mori with a smug expression. "—We have a bet to settle!"

Mori buried her face in her hands once more, simultaneously groaning loudly.

"' _Bet_ '?" Karasuma repeated, glancing at Chika. "What's this?"

"We had a competition to see how fast we could finish the rank wards match," Chika filled in for Konami and Karasuma patiently. "Yuma and I won, so we have a favour now."

"And we know _exactly_ what to use it for!" Yuma trumpeted proudly. "There's something about Tamakoma's atmosphere that needs to be fixed!"

Konami blinked. " _Huh_?"

"Oh, are you talking about Jin-senpai?" Karasuma intoned curiously. "I noticed that things were tense."

" _Wait_ , what about Jin?" Mori lifted her head up with a very obvious scowl. " _Nothing's wrong with Jin_ , what are you talking about?"

"Well, maybe not Jin in particular." Yuma sighed. "But you two _have_ been avoiding each other, you know?"

"No, I _don't_ know," Mori replied stubbornly, eyebrows creasing. "I think you're just imagining things."

"No, I'm _really_ not." Yuma gestured to everyone in the room. "Everyone's noticed it, even Konami."

"What do you mean by, ' _even Konami_ '?!" Said female shrieked, latching her arm around Yuma's neck and pounding a fist into the side of his head. "Are you insulting me?!"

" _Maybe_."

"Take that back—!"

"Yuma's point is," Karasuma interrupted smoothly, biting into another cookie. "You should go talk to him."

Mori was out of the room before they could blink.

-0-

The silence was interrupted by a loud ' _slam_ ' echoing through the building, most likely from the front door being slammed shut.

"…Maybe you didn't think this through enough…" Shiori lamented, turning to the rest of them. "I don't think it was very smart, saying it _up_ _front_ like that."

"What else could we have done?" Karasuma wondered out loud, taking a seat in Mori's previous spot nonchalantly. "She would have lost her temper if we danced around the topic for too long."

"…I don't think she should be running around so much yet, she said her wounds hurt yesterday," Chika mumbled, getting ready to stand up. "Maybe I should—"

"No, leave her be for now." Yuma sighed, rocking back and forth in his seat for a few moments. "She's _probably_ not especially mad at us, she just doesn't want to talk about Jin. I don't really know what happened between them, but we shouldn't needle her too much." He paused. " _Probably_."

"…You think so?" Konami asked.

" ** _Probably_** ," Yuma repeated again, rolling off of the couch and heading towards the door leisurely. "I'm going to train for a bit, since our match is coming up. Mori's _obviously_ tasked me with fighting Murakami, I need to have a strategy for that when the time comes."

"I'll pick Mori up later," Karasuma glanced down at his phone idly, walking out of the room shortly after Yuma. "Being angry or sad tires her out quickly."

Shiori stared at the door for a few seconds after the door shut, before sighing heavily. "Those two… They worry about her so much."

"I think it's funny how Yuma tries to pretend that he isn't." Konami laughed, jumping over the couch to sit beside Chika. "Chika, you wanna train together? You can get more practice coordinating with Shiori and hitting a moving target at the same time."

-0-

" _Goddamnit_ —" I kicked the vending machine, hearing my drink finally come loose and hit the bottom. "Shit, _fuck_ — My leg _fucking_ hurts—"

A sharp sting ran through my thigh as if in response, and a hiss of air escaped through my teeth.

" _Give me that_ —" I jabbed my hand through the opening, ripping the can of hot chocolate out and pressing it to my cheek. " _God_ , I shouldn't have left Tamakoma. The cold makes my scars hurt."

I paused, unconsciously leaving a space of silence for someone else to speak, just before the sharp winter air ripped me out of my thoughts.

" _You goddamn dumb fuck_ —" I opened the can with an echoing, satisfying 'pop' as I muttered to myself grumpily. "You left the building on your own… No one's here right now."

Honestly, it was jarring. For the past few months, everyone that I had suddenly met had refused to leave me with a second to brood. Yuma was in contact with me 24/7 via Replica, and also never slept. Whenever I was about to fall asleep, I would often fall asleep talking with both him and Replica. Chika had begun to meet up with me more frequently, as I had started to drift apart from her after Rinji left in a fit of frustration.

For the few months that we trained to join Border, Karasuma was a near-constant. He was often around, and spoke with me about training for most of my time at Tamakoma, with Yuma and Konami joining us every once in a while. Shiori was always around too, being a natural social butterfly that gravitated towards everyone in the building, flitting into different conversations quicker than I could've ever imagined. Rindou and Yotaro were always around too. Rindou was usually absent in his office, filling out and occasionally complaining about paperwork. But sometimes, he'd walk out of his stuffy office to grab a coffee and chat for a bit. The first time he had commented and offered advice on my fighting style, my eyes nearly bugled out of my head.

When I asked if he could fight, he only threw his head back and laughed.

( _Sometimes, that moment made me wonder why he hadn't been helping out during the invasion_.)

And even after the invasion, once I had woken up, there was always someone around. Yuma and Chika had slept over at my house more times than I could count, and someone was always worriedly hovering.

But all of a sudden, I was alone.

Why is this affecting me now, _of all times_ —?

I tipped the bottom of the can up, quickly gulping the steaming drink although it burnt my tongue.

( _I don't have time for this_ )

I tossed the can into a nearby trash can, already feeling a slight ache in my stomach as punishment for drinking too quickly. A burning liquid no less. But the distraction was such a relief, and I found myself more worried about the stinging burn on my tongue than the heavy pit in my stomach.

' _I need some painkillers for my scars, I didn't expect them to ache so much,'_ I sighed inwardly, looking around for the nearest convenience store. _'I shouldn't have gone out in the cold, especially since I don't exactly have a scarf anymore_.'

A flash of my scarf wrapped around Yuma's neck flashed through my mind.

'… _I know he can't exactly suffer from hypothermia, but at least he has something now_.'

I finally reached the convenience store, the irritatingly bright sign reflecting off of the light snow. I would have scowled any other day, but the flashing lights of the sign had thankfully helped me find my way.

' _You win this time, Life. You win this time_.'

I threw the door open quickly, internally wincing at the sudden rush of warm air that flushed through the door. I noticed the store clerk jolt at the chilly breeze that escaped into the store, but couldn't bring myself to feel sorry.

"What brand do I usually get…?" I hummed, scanning the labels from top to bottom, even glancing at the next shelf irritatedly. "… This isn't really anything worth bothering mom about…"

Honestly, most of this was a distraction. The aching from my scars was quickly fading now that I had stopped uselessly kicking vending machines, and I now had more brain space to properly focus on what I needed to.

Namely, _Jin_.

'… _Christ, they'll never hear me admit this out loud, but they're right._ ' I squatted, bringing myself low to the floor to get a better look at the lower shelves, as well as rest my legs. ' _Ever since the invasion… I've kind of been avoiding Jin. The time after I woke up from my coma was unavoidable, since he came to pick me up, but even then… I don't think I saw him really look me in the eye_.'

It was jarring, but I had been too stressed and mentally strained at the time to notice. Undeniably, Jin was avoiding me too.

' _Though I haven't really made an attempt to talk to him either, since I feel like I'd just blow up at him_ ,' The miserable thought came. ' _I just don't get why he… Didn't warn me. Unless that fucking around was_ ** _his definition_** _of a warning_ —'

 ** _"Four eyes. Don't do anything stupid."_**

'— _He said that with such a blank face_ …' My hand wrapped around a small pill bottle on the shelf, my grip unconsciously tightening in frustration. '… _Do I really mean… that little to him?_ '

Jin foresaw my death that day, I have no doubt.

Sure, my side effect is untrained, and generally only scratching the surface of it's potential, but it's strong enough to pick up most body language. Although sometimes my brain itself can't recognize the emotions being portrayed, I still notice the mannerisms. I can say, without a doubt, Jin saw my death.

But the sudden shock of what he saw… faded in seconds. Why does that frustrate me so much?

( _Maybe you thought you were finally getting somewhere. Because underneath all of that passive-aggressiveness and envy, you really respect Jin. The admiration you feel for that guy might even be greater than what you feel for Yuma_ …)

... And that little, subtle lack of reaction… Made it seem like I was nothing to him.

' _In the end, I just don't have the great side effect that he does. I don't have an iron grip on my emotions, I'm not a master strategist, I don't garner the respect that he does. I envied all of those traits just as much as I admired them_.'

Is this why… I've been avoiding him?

Am I just scared to find out if he ever really cared in the end?

I sighed heavily and grabbed an only-slightly familiar brand of painkillers, stomping towards the cashier as my thoughts slowly settled down. ' _God, this is almost pissing me off as much as the Rinji issue. And Rinji pissed me off a_ ** _lot_**.'

"W-would you like a bag with that… i?" The cashier stuttered, although the heater had long restored the shop to its original temperature.

…Is my face that scary right now? And also, am I tall enough to warrant a ' _miss_ '?

I sighed again, pushing a bill across the counter. "No thanks, I'm good."

He nodded nervously and handed me a receipt, my change, and the small bottle. "H-have a nice—"

The minimal movement from behind the glass doors to my left subtly caught my attention, and the sudden sight of some familiar faces caused me to pale.

A hasty ' _thanks_ ' spilt out of my mouth as I snatched my painkillers away from the stunned man, and ran off to duck into a short aisle. Just a second after I completely hid myself from sight from the entrance, the small bell hung up on the door let out a quiet ' _jingle_ '.

" _Gah_ , it's so cold out there all of a sudden! What gives, it was relatively warm this morning!"

"Don't you check the weather, spear-idiot? It said that we might get snow today."

"Who actually checks the weather other than adults? Why would _I_?"

"… I check the weather, idiot. And _now_ you know why I wore gloves today."

"Don't worry Yoneyan, I didn't check the weather this morning _either_!"

"Why do you have a scarf today then?!"

"… _Well_ , I was talking with Futaba-chan earlier, and—"

"— _Oh_ , come on! Bullet-brains, give me your scarf, or buy me something to drink."

"Oh, I want a snack too! I didn't bring any money with me, Izumin!"

"… Remind me, why are we friends again?"

"You know you love us~!"

' _Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit_ —'

I peeked around the corner of the shelf, eyes barely scanning over the entire convenience store before I ducked back behind cover. My side effect naturally gave me good spacial awareness, but it wouldn't help me much in the actual process of getting out of here without being seen.

' _Alright, Yoneya-senpai, Midorikawa-senpai, and Izumi-senpai are still by the door, preoccupied with their conversation. The cashier is still standing behind the counter, looking very confused and slightly stunned. Shit, if that guy gives me away, I'm going to fucking_ —'

" _U-Um_ , excuse me?" The man called out meekly, flinching harshly as my head whipped out of my hiding spot to send a fierce glare in his direction. "D-do you… _Know e-each other_ …?"

And with a pit of growing horror in my stomach, he shakily pointed over in my direction.

' ** _I should throw you into the deepest, darkest pit of hell for you to burn_**.'

A grin stretched Yoneya's face as his eyes caught mine, and I could physically feel my skin pale by about five shades.

" _Four-eyes-chan_ , what a coincidence!" He sang cheerily, striding over in one fluid movement that was way too casual to make me comfortable, before waving off his friends. "You guys get your stuff, _we'll be right back_ ~"

" _Get_ **_off_ _of_** —!" I shrieked, before he tossed an arm over my shoulder, steering me away from the two stunned teens at the front, but still within sight of both them as well as the nervous looking cashier. A scarf slapped me in the face during this process, which I distantly recognized as the one I had seen Izumi walk in wearing.

"C'mon, no need to look so tense!" He sang, before unhooking his arm and returning back to a neutral standing position beside me. His eyes slid to scan the other shelves almost absentmindedly, but I could tell that he wasn't paying them much attention. "Four-eyes-chan, If I didn't know any better I'd think you _hated_ me!"

" _Need I remind you_ ," I bit out, eyes still darting towards the door desperately. "Our first meeting? _When you tried to kill my best friend_?"

"Oh _c'mon_ , I thought we were over that," He muttered with a wince. " _Besides_ , you weren't this mean to me last time we talked."

I turned away from him with a huff, although I didn't make a move to sprint away quite yet. "… I am having a _horrible_ day." I shoved my hands into my pockets passive-aggressively. "I'll be less of a dick when today's _over_. And I don't want to talk to you and the rest of them."

He paused with a contemplative frown, before tilting his head curiously.

"…Are you _that_ scared of talking to Midorikawa and bullet brains? You look _really_ nervous."

I froze, surprised by the accuracy of the statement.

' _Gah— I don't want to talk to anybody from Border right now, I'll probably end up lashing out at someone_ —'

"I'm having a rough day." My voice came out tense, but had lost some of its previous aggression. I prayed that he wouldn't hear the slight shake to my tone. "I just… need to be alone. I need to think."

His nonchalant expression told me I had been successful, but his eyes told a different story.

'… _At least he's trying to be considerate_.'

"Well, I know what you need!" He sang, suddenly gaining back some of his ever-present laidback cheerfulness. "Never-mind _snacks_ , we'll treat you to dinner! There's a fast food place across the street, and you shouldn't be having medicine on an empty stomach!"

I shoved the painkillers from my hand into my pocket with more force than I intended.

"Who says my stomach's _empty_?" I denied, both hands now childishly stuffed in my pockets. " _Not hungry._ "

"I'm best friends with _Shuji_ , it'll take more than that to fool me," He laughed lightheartedly. " _One of us_ had to pick up social cues properly."

There was a small pause as his laughter came to an awkward halt. "…Actually, _please don't tell him I said that_."

"What makes you think I talk to Miwa-baka on a regular basis?" I retorted, before sighing in aggravation. " _Look_ , I'm not _really_ prepared to talk with Izumi-senpai yet, with how we last met during the invasion— I'm too stressed right now. I'll probably end up yelling or just being annoyingly quiet."

"And I'm not saying that yelling at us is fine, but stewing all alone is probably worse right now. Just hang out with us for a bit, I think bullet brains wanted to talk to you anyways." His reply seemed much more genuine than I was expecting, and he laughed again as my eyes widened. "I pulled you away at the start for a reason, Mikumo. If you _don't_ want to, it's fine, but I think you should just relax for a bit. You're probably stressed out, with your rank wars match coming up again soon, but just ignore that for now. There's no reason to go off looking for new strategies blindly, let it come to you naturally. Just take a break, and it'll help a _lot_."

I was silent after that.

'… _I guess that's not exactly what I'm worried about, but maybe he's right anyway._ '

Where was a long silence, where the two teens patiently waiting at the front of the store glanced over worriedly.

Yoneya even seemed to think that he had offended me in some way because he coughed awkwardly. "…Well, it was just an offer, so there's no reason to accept—"

"Yoneya-senpai." I cut him off quietly, sighing with slight reluctance. "…Sure. I'll take you up on that offer."

He stood still for a moment, so I hastily tacked on a muttered ' _if you wouldn't mind_ '.

I had exactly two seconds for my slight reluctance to expand into full-blown regret as an arm linked around mine, I stumbled slightly from my lack of balance, and an unsettlingly large grin grew on his face.

'… _MISTAKES HAVE_ ** _BEEN MADE_** _—_ '

"Bullet brains, Midorikawa, change of plans! Let's go to the Burger Queen across the street!"

-0-

"I feel like I'm forgetting something…" Shiori mumbled, unknowingly speaking into the headphone's microphone. "… But nothing's coming to mind…"

 ** _"Shiori-san, are you ok?"_** Chika asked over the communicator worriedly, sniping practice coming to a sudden halt.

"Don't worry about it, Chika-chan. I'm just trying to remember something." Shiori hummed. "I feel like I've forgotten about something dreadfully important…"

 ** _"You too?"_** Konami suddenly spoke up, a distant whine from Yuma letting them know that Konami paused their match. **_"I've been feeling that all day, so I tried putting it on the back burner while we trained… But it's bothering me."_**

"It's this nagging feeling that something's wrong…" Shiori sighed. "If Jin weren't so spacey nowadays, he would've been here _right now_ to tell us."

 ** _"We've been relying on his side effect for that, huh?"_**

"I guess so…" The operator pouted. "I think—"

Her voice suddenly cut off, causing Konami to freeze.

 ** _"…Shiori? Are you ok—?"_**

A sudden scream pierced through their ears, Shiori's voice making its way into the microphone.

" _THE FESTIVAL_!"

 ** _"What?!"  
_**

" _THE FESTIVAL_!" Shiori repeated with a shriek. " _WE FORGOT ABOUT THE FESTIVAL!_ "

-0-

A tray of fast food was pushed in front of me, without warning.

I raised a slightly amused eyebrow at the person in front of me, snark automatically covering up my nervousness. "…Is this the part where I'm supposed to thank you?"

"This is the part where you're supposed to eat," Yoneya cut in smoothly, apparently already used to socially awkward friends. "Just _relax_ already, you look like we dragged you here _unwillingly_."

"… That _is_ kind of what you did, Yoneyan." Midorikawa retorted, already picking up a handful of fries.

"No _, she accepted_! She just doesn't want to admit that to _you guys_ —"

I shoved the burger in front of Yoneya into his mouth, cutting him off prematurely.

He didn't make a move to continue the sentence, instead biting down and chewing with a content expression. I pointedly looked down and chewed on a fry, ignoring Izumi and Midorikawa's piercing stares.

"— _Oh_ , right." Yoneya swallowed, before turning to Midorikawa. "Don't you remember, there's something you wanted to do?"

All three of us gave him confused glances before Midorikawa jolted with realization. "… Wait, _right now_?!"

"I mean, I thought you wanted to get this over with ASAP…?"

"… Did something happen?" Izumi asked curiously as Midorikawa shifted around uncomfortably in his seat. He preoccupied himself with a handful of fries in his mouth, as Yoneya resigned himself to living the rest of his life having socially awkward friends.

"Midorikawa and Four-Eyes-chan had a solo rank wars match a while ago, from before the invasion," Yoneya filled in, and I tilted my head curiously.

"Was there something wrong with it?" I paused, memories suddenly resurfacing. " _Actually_ , I never got to the bottom of why Yuma was all angry that time…"

"The shrimp was _angry_?" Izumi repeated incredulously, setting his cup down with a raised eyebrow. "Even during the two weeks you were unconscious, I've _never_ seen him angry."

"That's cause he was _sulking_ the entire time," I muttered, shoving another fry in my mouth. "But how would _you_ _guys_ know anyway? You all were avoiding _both_ him and Chika."

There was a bit of an uncomfortable silence after that.

"…How'd you know that?" Yoneya asked curiously.

"Kunichika-chan told me, and I **_do_** actually converse with my teammates in my free time," I ended the retort halfheartedly. "I guess that doesn't matter _much_ at the moment though, what did Midorikawa-senpai want to say?"

The attention at the table redirected itself, once again.

Midorikawa didn't stall this time though— " _Well_ , _uh_ , Mikumo-senpai—"

Didn't stall _too_ much.

"There's no reason to call me senpai, just Mikumo is fine." I paused. "Or Mori, I don't _really_ care."

" _Yuma told me to call you senpai though_!"

I froze, before a brief flash of Yuma in the centre of the C-rank lobby flashed through my mind, thumbs jutting out as he pointed back at me. "Yuma does _whatever_ he wants on the _best_ of days. Just my name is fine."

Yoneya snorted lightly in amusement.

"Well, _anyway_ —" Midorikawa took a deep breath.

"— ** _I'M SORRY!_** "

Before bowing his head so quickly that it smacked again the table harshly. He cried in pain on impact, the noise garnering some attention from surrounding tables. Izumi winced sympathetically, and I hurriedly offered my ice-cold drink to him to prevent any swelling.

I cursed loudly, watching his hands immediately raise to his forehead in pain. "Jesus _fucking_ ** _Christ_** —! _Wait_ , never mind that, why're you apologizing to me?!"

"He _kind of_ humiliated you in front of a crowd, Four-eyes," Yoneya's monotone reply came, causing me to wince.

" _Yeah_ , but it's not like that was his fault," I defended weakly. "Besides, it was all fair, and I wasn't really trying to win."

Izumi blinked, glancing between the three of us. "Wait, can someone please explain what's going on?"

"…After the rumours of Mikumo-senpai's record against Kikuchihara spread around…" Midorikawa pressed his hands together nervously. "I challenged her to a match."

"And what's wrong with _that_?"

Yoneya leaned back in his seat, staring up at the ceiling with a forced, laid-back expression. "She was still C-rank."

Izumi paused, eyes flickering back to me momentarily as a monotone " _Well, shit_ " slipped out of his mouth.

" _Wait_ , why's that a problem?" I turned to him with a raised eyebrow, before glancing back at the very nervous Midorikawa. "He fought against Yuma too, it's not like it was anything special."

"…I baited you into the match by saying I'd give you points," Midorikawa pointed out.

"I didn't care about the points _that_ much." I sighed, picking up another fry. "You just provoked me into accepting anyway."

Yoneya coughed pointedly. "Four-eyes, A-ranks aren't allowed to take or give points to C-rankers."

There was a long silence, as my eye began to twitch.

"… _Oh_?"

"I may have also—" Midoriawa squeaked out. "—Spoken loudly on purpose, to draw attention to us… For the C-ranks to follow… _us_?"

My grip tightened around my cup. " ** _Oh_**?"

Yoneya turned to me, a carefree smile barely hiding the fear in his eyes. "Now, now Four-eyes, he didn't just bring it up just to—"

" _I WANTED TO APOLOGIZE!_ " Midorikawa finally shrieked, getting the attention of our table neighbours once again. Izumi glanced around nervously as a few other customers glared at the loud teen, but he continued on unbothered. " _I SHOULDN'T HAVE TRIED TO HUMILIATE YOU, IT WASN'T VERY PROPER OF ME!_ "

...The silence was deafening.

"… _Midorikawa-senpai_ … I don't really think you should worry about something like that."

Midorikawa jolted, head raising from the slight bow he had been in. " ** _Huh_**?!"

I scratched my cheek unconsciously, expression slightly uncomfortable as I tried to focus more on stuffing my face with food. "Well I _just_ — I guess _now_ I understand why Yotaro and Yuma were getting all upset, but it doesn't really matter to me. I guess…"

My hand shifted from my cheek to the back of my neck. "… Could we maybe… _be_ _friends_? None of that '- _senpai_ ' stuff, I guess… I'm sure it gets confusing for everyone around us when we _both_ call each other that…"

I was pretty obviously uncomfortable, but the tension leeched out of Midorikawa in an instant after my words.

" _SURE THING!_ " He cheered, taking me slightly by surprise. "Mikumo, can I call you ' _Moriyan_ '?!"

Yoneya and Izumi jolted in unison. " _A nickname already?!_ "

I nodded, some of the nervousness bleeding away. "I'd be fine with that... Should I just call you _Shun_?"

Once again, two of the group jolted in shock. " _You're just rolling with it?!_ "

"Thank you so much, Moriyan! I swear it'll never happen again!"

"I'd **_sure_** hope not."

" _Are you serious?!_ "

-0-

"Still Moriyan, why are you out and about anyway?"

I shrugged. "Everyone at Tamakoma was pestering me about something… So I left to sulk? It sounds _really_ melodramatic when I put it like that."

" _Pestering_?" Yoneya whistled. "Amatori and Reiji didn't seem like the type… Jin and the shrimp I _can_ believe though."

"Kizaki-san wasn't there," I grumbled. "And _Jin_ was the **_topic_**."

" _Ohoho_?"

"Wipe those smirks off of your faces," I muttered, turning to Izumi and Yoneya. "It wasn't _romance_ related, I'm just kind of pissed at him, and they want us to talk."

" _What_?!" Midorikawa turned to me with an indignant expression. "Why are you mad at Jin-senpai?!"

I glanced down at my tray of food, before realizing I couldn't eat anymore and pushed the rest of my fries towards the middle of the table for them to share. "I'm _pretty_ certain that he foresaw my death _before_ the invasion, and he barely gave me a warning."

There were a few beats of silence, in which everyone's expressions dropped. Izumi and Yoneya composed themselves as quickly as possible, but Midorikawa seemed frozen in shock.

" ** _Well_**." Yoneya ' _subtly_ ' kicked Midorikawa under the table. "I guess that's a good reason to be mad as any."

I huffed. "He's also avoiding me now. So I just don't know what to think of it, and there hasn't been a time to ask him about it."

"Speaking of which," Yoneya jabbed a finger into Izumi's face, who blinked slowly in shock. "He didn't tell us that bullet-brains would get kidnapped _either_! I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the cube in that Neighbour guy's hands!"

Izumi chewed on the food in his mouth, eyes narrowing slightly. "You're only saying that because you need my _math notes_ in class, spear idiot."

"Ah… _I've been caught._ "

"I'm sure Jin-senpai has a very good reason that he didn't tell you guys!" Midorikawa was quick to defend his idol.

"… I think I know why he didn't tell you guys about Izumi-senpai," I admitted quietly, causing their heads to turn towards me in shock. "But it's mostly speculation, so I'm not sure if you want to he—"

" _No_ , tell us!" Yoneya poked me in the cheek, causing my eye to twitch. "Spit it out!"

"Don't poke me again," I began with, pushing his hand away lightly. "This makes me sound conceited anyway, but I think he didn't tell you guys because in a very _twisted_ kind of way, Izumi being captured… Kinda saved my life?"

I grimaced at how the words sounded out loud. "In some _convoluted_ , **_over-simplified_** way..."

"Wait, _what_?!" Midorikawa shrieked, and Izumi's eyes widened slightly. " _Can we have an explanation_?!"

I lifted my left hand to gesture aimlessly into the air. "Well, Tachikawa kind of fought off the Neighbour guy, _right_ —?"

"Tachikawa-san didn't come until long after you guys got me back," Izumi chipped in, pointing at Yoneya for a moment. "… _At least_ , that's just what _this_ idiot told me."

Yoneya looked 100-percent ready to jump into the friendly banter, but I interrupted quickly again.

" _Yeah_ , but based off of what _Shiori_ told me," I tried to remember the exact words of her report, but ultimately gave up and paraphrased. "Tachikawa had cut off his communicator's connection from HQ while he was going over… _Or_ he just didn't care what their orders were. _Either way_."

"With Tachikawa-san it could be either way," Midorikawa laughed tensely. "But what does this have to do with _Izumin_?"

This time, I was the one to give them a puzzled expression. "... Tachikawa went over there in the first place, to save Izumi-senpai. _Didn't he_?"

I was jerked out of the conversation rather abruptly, as the table was pushed to the side harshly. I blinked cluelessly, before glancing over at Izumi.

Izumi, who had stood up so abruptly that his chair had been knocked back, a horrible screeching noise having followed. Izumi, who's eyes were blown so wide with an unknown emotion that I immediately worried for what was going through his mind.

There was a long silence that almost seemed deafening.

Yoneya finally stood up though, much quieter and slower this time, finally drawing Izumi's attention away from me. He gestured carelessly to the other customers that had been staring at us worriedly. "Sorry 'bout that." He quickly shoved all of our food back into the paper bag that we had received it in, before waving a hand in front of Izumi's eyes.

"…Kouhei, let's go outside." He paused, before glancing at me. "You guys can continue talking out there, yeah?"

Izumi finally blinked, head tilting up as if he just realized his change in position. With his intense stare now broken, I slumped in my seat in unison with Midorikawa.

-0-

"… A festival?"

"That's _right_!" Shiori shrieked, slapping the desk excitedly. "The new years festival from a few weeks ago, that was supposedly cancelled because of the Illgar crash incident!"

"Oh right, _that_." Yuma shrugged with a duck face. "I kind of forgot about the _Illgar_ , if I'm being honest."

"They decided to run the festival anyway though, especially after the invasion happened. _To bring up peoples spirits_ apparently." Konami hummed, leaning against the arm of the couch. "You guys were _too busy_ training to hear the announcement."

Chika at least had the decency to look embarrassed. Yuma… Not so much.

"What do you _do_ at the festivals in Japan anyway?" Yuma tilted his head, leaning back in his seat. "And how long will it take? I _still_ need to get in some training and planning before our match the day after tomorrow."

"It'll only take up the evening," Shiori reassured gently. "But a lot of the city will be going, so I think you guys should take a break and have some fun."

Yuma shrugged. " _I guess_ , as long as it doesn't take up the whole day." He paused, before glancing off towards the door. "I wanted to talk with Mori about the match before it happened though."

"You guys can stick together during the festival if you want," Konami offered lightly. "You don't need to dress up or anything, just walk around and socialize if you need to. That's _really_ all it is."

"There's food stalls and games all around too!" Shiori grinned at them. "It'll be fun, I promise."

"Whatever," Yuma huffed, standing up and walking towards the door. "…Tell me if Mori comes back."

The door shut behind him, and Shiori stood there awkwardly for a minute before laying a hand on Chika's shoulder with a sigh.

"He's in such a huffy mood all of a sudden…" Shiori pouted. "Is it because Mori left?"

"He probably thinks that big sister is mad at him," Chika reassured, patting Shiori on the arm lightly. "He's just worried that she's upset he was pushing the subject."

"Is she actually mad at him though?" Konami asked lightly, already heading towards the door to spar with Yuma. "He was the one that tried telling the rest of us that she wasn't mad at us, but _maybe_ he's overthinking it himself…?"

" _Probably_ ," Chika sighed in unison with Shiori. "Those two, _honestly_."

" _Honestly_ ," Shiori repeated in a similarly exasperated tone.

-0-

"…That's a big mouthful," Midorikawa began with a tense expression.

"Tachikawa-san disregarding orders… Helping Four-eyes-chan get away from the Neighbour, technically saving her… And then keeping it a secret from HQ…?" Yoneya whistled, being the only one even remotely trying to keep a semblance of carefree energy. "You know four-eyes, the higher-ups would _hound_ you if they found out you knew this? Since Tachikawa-san _refused_ to fess up."

"I don't really care about what HQ is doing, as long as they're not going after Tamakoma again," I huffed, leaning against the armrest of the nearby park bench. Izumi himself was sitting on it, head in his hands as he processed everything that I had shared. "Besides, _who's gonna tell them_? Tachikawa probably doesn't even remember I was there, and you three don't _really_ give off the impression of Kido-faction representatives… Not like _Miwa-baka_ , anyway."

Yoneya hummed. "…I guess that's true."

"Still, it was a _big deal_!" Midorikawa tugged on my sleeve. "Tachikawa-san disobeying orders— Kido-san was debating for _weeks_ what punishment to give him! Tachikawa squad nearly got demoted to B-rank after that stunt, especially after Tachikawa refused to tell them why he did it in the first place!"

"… Thank god that wasn't the _final_ decision," I joked, turning to Yoneya. "Or else I'd need to fight them in the rank wars just to get promoted."

I think I saw Izumi crack a small smile at that. Yoneya might've noticed it too, because he shot me a thankful smile.

'… _Does Izumi-senpai feel guilty? Maybe he feels like it was all his fault, for nearly getting captured_ …'

"I think the only reason he didn't demote the whole squad like that was because of the new rank wars season." Midorikawa began once again. "Even with Yuiga on their team, no one doubts that they'd completely demolish everyone else, and then get promoted in a month or two. And Tachikawa-san could get back his solo points in even less time, probably."

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow with genuine curiosity. "How would he find enough people willing to fight him for that?"

"…Sometimes in the hallways, we can catch glimpses of Tachikawa-san latched onto Kazama-san's leg, begging him for a rank wars match." Yoneya snorted, barely muffling his chuckles behind his sleeve. "Or he'd just go bug Jin for a match."

"…Every time I hear something else about the high ranking Border agents, the less I'm scared of them." I admitted tonelessly. "My senpai get less and less intimidating every time I see them. Doesn't say very many good things about the future for Border..."

"... _Oho_?" Yoneya and Midorikawa both leaned over, breaking my bubble of personal space with matching, sly smirks. "Were you scared of _all_ of your senpai at _one point_?"

"— _Aaaaaaand_ , now I'm leaving." I spun around on my heels, already turning away.

"No, _wait_!" Midorikawa wailed, clinging onto my arm. "Were you scared of us?! If that's the case, I'm really sorry for approaching you the first time, Moriyan! For the rank wars match!"

"…Dude, _I'm fine_." I coughed uncomfortably, trying to pry my arm from his grip. "That was a while ago."

"Did you nearly trip over your feet in your nervousness when he asked you for a match, Four-eyes?" Yoneya grinned teasingly, loosely onto my other arm. "Is that why you didn't pull off even a single win against the shorty here?"

"I will _actually_ murder you." Any threat I tried forcing into my voice was empty, and everyone knew it. " _I'm going home now_."

Their grips were loose enough that I could slip away any moment I felt like it, so I didn't feel all that uncomfortable. I had no idea that a bunch of morons could actually be this comforting.

Midorikawa pouted playfully. "But _Moriyan_ —!"

A ball of snow slammed into his nose, the powder landing smack dab in the middle of his face.

The shock of the sudden cold substance caused Midorikawa's grip to drop from my arm, as his hands slowly rose to his face. He began to carefully wipe the frozen water from his eyes, as all of our heads turned to its trajectory direction.

And there, Izumi stood tall, hand still outstretched from where he had thrown the snowball. His usual playful smirk was once again present, as he held another snowball loosely in his other hand.

"Snowball fight," He began lightly, a laugh hidden in his voice. "Do you think you can beat the shooters in a snowball fight?"

Yoneya finally broke the silence after his statement, with a sudden shriek. His arms retracted from me as he dove to the ground to pick up some snow.

" _SNOWBALL FIGHT!_ "

Izumi threw the second snowball in his grip towards his friend, but Yoneya skillfully dodged with a laugh as he squished a pile of snow between his gloved hands.

"Wait, _Yoneyan_ —!" Midorikawa gestured wildly, trying to get their attention. "Izumin, _c'mon_ —!"

The two teens ignored his cries, already wrapped up in a heated back-and-forth battle of snowballs.

I also heard some shrieks in between that sounded suspiciously like they were urging us to join in, which I pointedly ignored with a snicker.

Midorikawa gave up on them as he turned to me with a slightly apologetic expression. "I'm sorry, Moriyan, I was only kidding around, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable before—"

My head jerked suddenly and awkwardly, causing me to reflexively blink in surprise.

His words cut off very suddenly, and I wondered bleakly for a moment why his expression suddenly held horror. I turned around, looking up to catch Yoneya's eyes, which were also wide with a kind of horror I was for the most part, unfamiliar with. However, Izumi, across from him, had an expression filled with so much childlike glee that I nearly had to take a double take.

And suddenly, my hand rose to the side of my head, where I felt an unfamiliar lump of frozen snow squashed against my head.

'… _Oh_.'

I scraped the snow off of my head lightly, the white powder coming off easily and landing in my hand.

'… _Yoneya threw this?_ '

My eyes widened near-unnoticeably.

Before a large grin spread across my face.

I packed the snow together in my hands, watching Yoneya's eyes widen with shock as I reared my arm back in his direction.

As the misshapen snowball was hurled towards his face with pinpoint accuracy, I yelled one thing.

" ** _SNOWBALL FIGHT!_** "

-0-

White gremlin: hey

White gremlin: ...im sorry for bothering you about jin earlier

White gremlin: i didnt mean to be nosy, i just could tell it was bugging you, and it was bothering everyone else too, and i just

White gremlin: i talked to chika about it, and we figured you wouldnt do it without being told…

White gremlin: are you mad at me?

 **Four-eyed weirdo: I'm not mad**

 **Four-eyed weirdo: I'm sorry, I just didn't expect you and Chika to notice it really… I'll try to meet with him soon**

White gremlin: oh thats good

 **Four-eyed weirdo: Maybe sometime after our next match...**

White gremlin: ….really?

 **Four-eyed weirdo: Well, I'm not doing it right now, you hear me? I just got home, and I'm covered in snow.**

 **Four-eyed weirdo: Karasuma-senpai picked me up and walked me home**

White gremlin: no, its fine, i was just wondering

 **Four-eyed weirdo: Did you know that Karasuma-senpai and Izumi-senpai knew each other?**

White gremlin: not really

 **Four-eyed weirdo: Does everyone at Border know each other?**

White gremlin: …do we have a plan for our next match?

 **Four-eyed weirdo: Nope.**

 **Four-eyed weirdo: I'll probably end up blowing something up though.**

White gremlin: ….try to get some sleep, ok?

 **Four-eyed weirdo: Haha, no promises.**

-0-

Izumi blinked.

"Tachikawa-san?"

Said adult waved with a casual grin, despite the stack of papers in front of him. "Yo." He was currently sitting at the small coffee table they had, papers resting on the wooden surface while he held up a pen.

"Jeez, what are you still doing here?" Izumi sighed, dropping his bag down by the door. "Is that the defence report that you were supposed to do yesterday?"

Tachikawa shrugged, shifting over to leave a spot on the couch for his friend. "I couldn't get my pencil, since Yuu kicked us out last night."

Izumi laughed, swinging over to sit on the couch, arms haphazardly thrown over the armrest. "You're just using that as an excuse, you could've borrowed one of Tsukimi-san's pens."

Tachikawa pouted, leaning back over the papers as he scratched his head. "I didn't want to use a pen."

Izumi laughed, but didn't deflect his second excuse again as he let his eyes slowly shut.

And there was peaceful silence. For a while, anyway.

"So, _Tachikawa-san_ ," Izumi began casually, eyes still closed. "When were you gonna tell me that you broke the rules during the invasion… To come get little ol' me?"

All Izumi could see was the darkness of the back of his eyelids, but he heard Tachikawa shift in his spot.

"… Now, where'd you hear that?"

"Someone," He replied nonchalantly. "Tachikawa-san, you could've told us. You know we wouldn't have ratted you out."

Tachikawa took a deep breath, the sound practically echoing in the empty silence of their operator room.

"Yeah… But then you'd be reacting like you are now."

Izumi shifted uncomfortably, finally opening his eyes to meet Tachikawa's.

"… _I_ _just_ ," Izumi paused, eyes sliding to glance up at the ceiling. "… We let you down, _didn't we_? I got captured, even though _you_ put your trust in us to take care of ourselves…"

" _No_ ," Tachikawa grinned, pulling the teen up to sit up straight. "… _You didn't let me down._ ** _Not once_**."

And the two of them sat there, for the longest time.

Because that was all Izumi needed to hear, that he and Kunichika hadn't let their captain down.

Because as nonchalant as the No. 1 team seemed about their ranking, it meant a lot. It took hard work to get them to this spot with Yuiga around, and they didn't get there by not caring in the slightest.

Nearly every time, during the rank wars, Tachikawa and Izumi were the only two fighting. Tachikawa always put his trust in Izumi to watch his back, so they could make it to the top ranking.

… And when Izumi heard that Tachikawa nearly threw all of that away for his sake, he felt an undeniable amount of gratitude… But also, shame. He had let down their faithful captain, and Kunichika no doubt felt the same.

But Tachikawa wasn't let down. Not in the least.

"… It's been something Kazama and I have been thinking about… Maybe even _Touma_. Who knows." Tachikawa hummed, hand falling form where he had placed it on Izumi's shoulder. "When Jin stood in front of us, to fight us off… When we tried to retrieve the black Trigger. He talked about _something_ … About how he didn't want the higher-up's faction battles to interfere with the future of his Kouhai."

He paused, eyes raising to meet the ceiling, not unlike what Izumi had been doing earlier. "We thought about it for a long while. But when I heard that HQ lost contact with you during the invasion… For some reason, it popped back up in the forefront of my mind."

He grinned, patting both of Izumi's shoulders, while the teen himself had a slightly shocked expression as he listened to his captain.

"… Us senpai really need to try harder for the next generation, you know? The faction battles will end one day, and we'll be the next people in line to guide and direct Border. All of us top squads… We need to be ready for that. We should reach out, to make more of an effort. And as for Jin… I'm still thinking about what he said. Maybe I'll figure it out one day, _or I'll go ask Kazama_. He's _much_ smarter than me."

Izumi was silent, his head slowly lowering as he quietly listened to every word until his captain was finished.

"… _Captain_ , you still need to apologize to Mikumo."

" _Wait_ , my inspirational speech is over, just like that? And _who_?"

"The four-eyes you nearly **_cut in half_** during the invasion."

"Ah— **_You heard about that too!?_** "

"Of course I did, she was the one that told me in the first place! You better be ready to apologize to one of the ' _next generation kouhai_ ', No. 1 attacker!"


	14. Ashita No Hikari

_**A/N - HOLY SHIT IT'S BEEN 3 MONTHS.**_

 _ **So I'm REEEAAALLY sorry about the long wait, but I won't block the chapter up at the top here, so I'll put the note down at the bottom!**_

 _ **And another apology for the sudden mini-hiatus, it was completely uncalled for, and most likely won't happen again. And on another note, WORLD TRIGGER CAME BACK WHILE I WAS GONE! HOLY SHIT!**_

-0-

' _Are you gonna dress up for the festival?_ '

I blinked at the paper cluelessly, the slightly crumpled texture brushing against my fingers as I picked up the scrap. I glanced back at Yuma quickly, but his expression gave nothing away as he ' _watched_ ' the teacher at the front of the classroom drone on and on about something vaguely history related.

I bit my lip and picked up my pencil.

' _Why are you asking all of a sudden?_ '

I tossed the paper over my shoulder the moment my eyes registered the teacher's back to us. However, this little window of time's criteria didn't include everyone in the class looking away from us, and so I received a few disbelieving glances.

A paper hit me in the side of the head a few moments later, bouncing off and landing in the centre of my desk.

Internally, I congratulated Yuma on the good shot. Outwardly, my eye twitched.

' _Well, I tried asking Shiori about the celebration, since I don't know too much about it, and she said that some people wear_ '—

There was a smudged area, where I suspected he attempted several times to spell the word.

—' _Yutakas_.'

I scribbled out a quick asterisk below the word, with a small ' _Yukata_ ', before continuing with the rest of my message.

' _And no, I haven't gone to the new years festival in years. It got old after a few years since I didn't have any friends at school to go with. And after I met Chika and Rinji, they couldn't go either or else Chika might've attracted Neighbours (especially with how many people were around) so the three of us and my mom would stay home._ '

That message took up a few lines.

I gained a few more incredulous glances as I tossed the paper behind me once again.

The paper landed on the corner of my notebook the next time. I quickly noted how quickly Yuma could write, despite his inability to take actual notes for school work.

' _I don't have anything particularly fancy to wear_.'

I subtly raised an eyebrow.

' _What, did you_ ** _want_** _to wear a yukata?_ '

' _I just wanted to see one. I find that Japan has a lot of cool stuff, so I wanted to see what it's like._ '

'… _You know, just cause I'm not dressing up, doesn't mean no one else will._ '

There a was a longer pause before I got a reply on that one, as if Yuma has reread the sentence more than once.

' _Oh yeah. I forgot_.'

' _Chika'll probably dress up. She has a yukata, even though she hasn't gotten to wear it very often._ '

' _Really? She can come?_ '

' _Sure, Shiori did say that a lot of Border agents will be there… Besides, if anything happens, she can defend herself now_.'

' _That's good. I hope she'll have fun_.'

' _Shiori'll probably dress up too. Karasuma-senpai told me that he might be working at one of the stalls though._ '

' _Oh that's cool. What kind of games are there?_ '

When the paper landed on my desk this time, the teacher sent the two of us a suspicious glance. I resisted the urge to whistle obnoxiously, and only let out a breath once they had turned around once again.

'… _.Uhhhhhhhhhh. I think there's something about catching goldfish with a paper net, or something_.'

' _Paper? I didn't think you could do that_.'

'… _To be honest, I'm sure the point of most of those games IS to be impossible._ '

' _Oh. It's one of THOSE games_.'

I snickered, barely muffling the sound with my hand.

' _There'll probably be some shooter games too, with fake guns and a bunch of toys on a shelf… Or something. Like I said, I haven't gone in a long time_.'

' _Oh, that sounds fun. I don't have very good aim though, I'll just leave that to you and Chika_.'

' _I'll probably leave it to Chika too._ '

' _It all sounds like fun_.'

'… _It probably is_.'

I took a while to properly convey the sudden rush of emotions I felt.

'… _I'm glad you came to earth, honestly. I don't think I would have ever talked to Chika normally again after the incident with Rinji. And I wouldn't have gone to Border if you weren't around either. So thanks for being here_.'

I didn't get the paper back for a few minutes after that. I worried very briefly that anything like that was far too out of the blue, but it was too late to have second thoughts.

'… _You're making me feel awkward now, I thought we were just talking about the festival tonight. But I'm glad to be here too, I guess._ '

' _What do you mean, "I guess"?_ '

I considered for a moment if I should've drawn an emoji on the paper just to see him laugh and lighten up the mood, and eventually gave in to the temptation.

' _:(_ '

Moments after the repeatedly folded and crumpled paper landed softly on his desk, I heard a muffled chuckle.

He didn't toss the paper back to me again before the bell had rung, but we were both wearing matching grins as we ran out of the classroom.

"You wanna hang out at Border for a bit before we need to go?"

I sighed, shaking my head fondly as I glanced over at the tall building in the distance.

"... Yeah sure, whatever."

-0-

"Yuma, we have around an hour until we need to head back to Tamakoma to meet up with everyone else."

"Ok. I'll be back here by then."

"…Are you even listening to yourself right now?"

" _What_? I said that I'd be back here. By the time we need to leave."

"…You know what, never mind. I'm gonna head to the cafeteria area so I can get a drink and get a head-start on some homework. I'll call you around 10 minutes before we need to go, and if you're not here by then…."

"You have so little faith in my sense of direction, Mori."

"I feel like my lack of faith is justified for once… Fine, do whatever you want."

-0-

"…Well, what do you know?" Yuma whistled, glancing around in the empty halls. "… _I've lost my way_."

Yuma could almost imagine Mori's voice echoing in his head, scolding him for losing his way again. She even warned him, no matter how offhanded it was.

"Well, I better find the front door soon," He hummed, picking a direction and walking. ' _Or else Mori'll send me a map, probably. Just to brag that she was right._ '

" ** _Lost_** , Kuga?"

Yuma blinked lightly, pausing for a moment before twisting his head around. His unnervingly blank eyes landed on the familiar figure across the hall.

" _Kido_." He waved, false politeness coating his words to mask the ice underneath. "Surprise seeing you here."

He paused, before turning his head _just_ slightly away from him. "I thought the director of Border would have better things to do than talk to a **_lowly_** Neighbour such as myself on his off time."

Kido's eyes, although not glaring quite yet, were burning with a hate that Yuma hadn't yet seen in anyone other than Miwa. "My office is not far from here. You were causing _quite_ a ruckus."

' _I was just talking to myself out loud, jeez._ ' Yuma sighed out-loud, swinging his arms behind his head. " _Well_ , I won't keep you. Can you point me in the direction of the front door? It'd save me a lot of time."

Kido's eyes narrowed, and he remained silent as Yuma stared.

"…Fine, _don't_ answer me." The Neighbour sighed, deciding instead to walk the other direction. He took a few steps, eventually passing Kido to go the other way.

He almost thought that's all this would be. He thought that's _all_ that would happen.

( _He should've known that Kido wouldn't just stand up to glare at someone, and literally do nothing else. That is just a positively silly thought._ )

" _What_ is your ploy, Kuga?" Kido's stern voice cut through the silence, back still facing the Neighbour as the latter came to a halt. "You refused the position as captain of your team… _Why_?"

' _Oh_ ,' Yuma though blandly, letting his eyes shut as he moulded his expression into the perfect depiction of carelessness. ' _…That's apparently a surprise to him, huh?_ '

"I watched the last match with Tamakoma-2." Kido turned, finally letting his eyes land on Yuma's back, burning glare now firmly in place. "Your captain as of now holds no potential. Any skill she may possess can be found _anywhere_ else in Border. There's nothing special about her… So _what_ do you have up your sleeve that makes you _think_ —"

" ** _Shut up_**."

Kido paused, although not out of fear of the ice that had crept into Yuma's tone. His eyes narrowed further, and the air around them grew heavy with impatience.

And finally, Yuma turned around. His eyes were now open, deep crimson burning as furiously as they would when catching a lie. Kido suppressed the shiver that went down his spine.

"There's _one_ thing you don't get." Yuma ground out, carefree tone already long abandoned. "You act as if I _threw away_ the captain position. _Someone like_ ** _you_** _wouldn't understand._ "

( _I never had—nor wanted—that position in the first place, Yuma thought. He and Chika had given the position to Mori long before either of them had even thought about touching it._ )

"I can see it written all over your face." Yuma's eyes narrowed darkly. "You think that since you know _my dad_ , you know me. Frankly, I don't really know—or care— about what my dad was to you. You think that I just picked Mori to be my captain, on a _childish_ **_whim_**. That I'll abandon her and take the place of captain _the_ _second_ this gets old."

"Isn't that the truth?" Kido raised an eyebrow dully. "There's nothing of merit to be found in choosing someone like _that_ … to be your captain."

"… That's where you're wrong." Yuma's voice suddenly lowered dangerously. "Do you really think I'm _so_ selfish that I'm thinking only about myself _every_ second of my life? _Only my_ ** _own_** _survival_?" Yuma paused, before turning away from the scarred man. " _Frankly_ , the idea of something like that is _sickening_."

Kido's eyes widened near-unnoticeably, before returning back to their narrowed state. The action was obviously not meant to be seen by someone that Kido considers an enemy, much less a _Neighbour_.

Yuma couldn't help but think that Mori would be proud of him for catching that detail.

"If that isn't the case, then you won't live long. A _neighbour_ , in **_Border_**?" There was a meaningful pause. "If you don't measure your actions to fulfill Border's _every_ order… Well, _I'll_ be eager to get rid of you. One day, you _will_ reveal your true colours—"

Yuma cut him off, a loud snort echoing through the hall as Kido's words came to an abrupt halt.

The latter was beginning to lose his patience.

"…Do you find something funny?" A hint of irritation finally slipped into Kido's tone.

"Oh, _no_ , nothing in the slightest, I swear." Yuma snickered, raising a hand to cover his mouth just slightly. "I just— _Everything_ you just said. It's completely _wrong_ , and _so_ off the mark I just—" He trailed off into another fit of giggles, causing Kido's patience to thin further still.

Though Yuma began to speak again, just before Kido could snap back at him.

"It's just…" He took a deep breath, calming his expression from the amusement that had been previously present. "You think that it's _all_ about _me_. It's all about the _neighbours_ , it's all about my _dad_."

He paused. "It isn't. _Not in the slightest_." Yuma smiled, thinly. "Maybe it was at _one point_ , when I first came here. But I've long given up on that wish, so that I can move on and start living the way I want to."

There was another drawn-out silence, the tense atmosphere only mounting further until it felt like a physical weight around them.

"…It's about my friends. Everyone at Tamakoma, Rindou-san, Jin, Reiji, Torimaru, Konami, Yotaro."

He lifted his fingers, counting off the names clearly for Kido to see.

"All of my friends and senpai at Border, Yosuke, Midorikawa, Kageura, Arafune, Tokieda, Arashiyama…"

He finally looked Kido in the eyes.

"And my teammates, Tamakoma-2." He grinned, lowering his hands as his ring almost seemed to grow warm. "Shiori… Chika… Replica…"

His smile grew fond. "And our _dumbass_ captain, **Mori**."

He paused, letting the statement hang for a moment.

"So you see, it's not about me. It's never been about me, from my perspective. Maybe from our Captain's, since she's such a _mother hen_ sometimes, but up until just a while ago… I don't think I cared whether I died the next day or not."

His Trigger was heavy in his pocket, but it was a comfortable weight that he used to ground himself. Despite its origin being the organization that had antagonized him from his very first week here in Meeden, it was comforting. It reminded him of what he had gained since he first set foot on this planet.

He closed his eyes peacefully.

"…But now, all these people are here with me. So rather than _nothing_ having meaning at all anymore… They are the ones carrying my reason. It's about them. It's not about whether I care about myself or not, because I know that they do. So I need to do my best to live for them."

He barely needed to open his eyes to know that Kido's expression was probably enraged. He wanted to see the fury anyway though, so he opened his eyes just enough to see the burning stare.

"You look _pretty_ upset," Yuma pointed out in amusement. "Was it because of how far off the mark you were? Or _maybe_ , was it because some of the people on that list..." Yuma smiled. "Are your _very_ own Border agents from HQ…?"

The answer didn't matter to him though, as he had only asked the rhetorical question in order to infuriate the man further.

So without a care, he turned to walk away.

Swinging his arms up and linking behind his head, he paused halfway down the hall. "…And you said something about ' _true colours_ ' earlier. I don't think you need to look far, since this is really all there is to ' _someone like me_ '."

He turned ever so slightly, just enough for Kido to catch his half-lidded eyes.

"After all... _I do hate liars_."

His phone rang at that exact moment, as if the caller had sensed the tense atmosphere. It didn't go away as the incessant buzzing rang out, but Yuma couldn't care less about the weight of the air at that moment.

"Hello?" He called out, holding his phone in his hand. And maybe to spite Kido further, left it on speaker. "Yuma here."

 ** _"Yuma, hurry up. We have to leave in ten minutes. They said we were all meeting at Tamakoma, remember?"_** Mori's voice echoed from the other end of the line, as she sighed. **_"You were the one that was so gung-ho about this, could you at least_ try _to be on time?"_**

" _Haha_ , sorry captain," He laughed, walking down the hall as Kido stood completely still in his spot. "I'll be right over, I just ran into someone."

He turned the corner peacefully, finally turning off the speaker as he bantered with his captain.

Kido didn't move though. His narrowed eyes were still trained on the spot Yuma had been standing, silent fury still burning in his eyes.

-0-

"Simple shirt, and pants. Plain and simple, and I'll be warm," I pointed out, before jabbing a finger over in Yuma's direction. "…Good thing I have a hoodie too, but aren't _you_ going to be cold?"

Yuma shrugged, before grabbing the scarf dangling around his neck and flapping it in my direction obnoxiously. "I have an accessory."

"A scarf won't keep your arms warm, you idiot. And… that is _my_ scarf, you know."

"Not anymore," He cheerily pointed out. "You gave it to me!"

I could feel my eyebrows crease as I glanced up at the sky with a sigh. "… Is that... _Really_ how it works…?"

"…Are you two sure that I look okay?" Chika murmured meekly, standing beside us with the long sleeves of her yukata swaying slightly in the breeze. Her eyes flickered down to the baby blue fabric decorated with orange stitched koi fish along the hem. "Maybe I should change, I feel so out of place…"

"No, _don't_ —" I sighed, setting a hand down on her shoulder. "Chika, you look absolutely amazing. If anyone should want to leave and change, it should be Yuma and I."

"… And I don't _really_ wanna go change, so you're good." Yuma gave a quick thumbs up. "You look nice."

Chika blushed at the praise, raising her sleeves to cover her pink tinted cheeks whilst she tried to stammer a reply.

" _Aww_ ~ Chika-chan, you're so adorable!" Shiori swooped in, wrapping her arms around Chika's shoulders with a bright smile.

Chika blushed once again, before shyly returning the hug.

"You guys look comfy," Konami stepped up, evidently having been right behind Shiori. She was also dressed up, a coral coloured yukata with white lantern designs clustered at the edges. "Not dressing up, huh?"

"It would have taken hours to get Yuma dressed if I wanted to, and we didn't have that much time." I groaned, tapping him on the head lightly. " _He's_ the one who got lost while wandering Border HQ, seriously…"

"HQ?" Konami quirked an eyebrow. "Why were you guys there?"

"I left Replica in our operator room the other day by accident since I was distracted." I drew the miniature replication of our friend from my pocket, rolling it around my hand. "Yuma has one too I guess, but kinda I wanted the one that I got…"

"It doesn't feel right when he's not in my pocket," Yuma added sagely, and I agreed with a slow nod.

I paused, before reaching over to pat Yuma's head. "And this guy just wanted to wander around a bit. He bullied a few C-ranks while I did my homework, and _miraculously_ , we didn't attract the attention of any A-rankers."

Kizaki quirked an eyebrow from behind Konami. "Why would _either_ of those things attract attention from A-rankers?"

I could practically feel my shoulders droop as Yuma whistled innocently. "… I literally attracted a high ranking B-rank… _by going to a vending machine_."

"I met Miwa by a vending machine once too!" He laughed, clapping me on the back. "I guess vending machines are just unlucky for us."

" _Rough_ ," Karasuma interjected blandly, although his tone conveyed a deep sense of amusement.

"And Yuma just goes and finds _whoever_ he wants." I sighed, before resting my elbow on said teen's head. He was that short. "I'm honestly surprised he didn't meet anyone important on the way to the front door…"

"But I _did_!" He interjected, and I felt a pit form in my stomach. "I had a nice, _lovely_ chat with Kido just before you called me."

There was dead silence.

I broke the long, tense pause with a sigh of resignation, patting him on the head lightly. "… I'm just… _Not_ going to mention that. I'll just assume you pissed _him_ off, and he pissed _you_ off."

I received a few pitying glances from Karasuma and Kizaki. Konami seemed to think I wouldn't catch the subtle thumbs-up she sent her pupil, but whatever.

"I did have a feeling you were talking to _someone_ though." I pinched the bridge of my nose, already accepting whatever came out of Yuma's newfound _hatred_ for Kido. ( _It was dislike before, now it's outright hatred._ ** _Lovely_** _._ ) "Though I was _praying_ I wasn't right… I should've known that wouldn't work."

"Why'd you think so?" Konami asked while tugging on the white-haired boy's scarf, sending a slightly curious glance at the familiar fabric.

( _Probably wondering where she's seen it before. Well, it_ ** _was_** _my favourite scarf, I've probably worn it around Tamakoma on multiple occasions_.)

"He called me ' _captain_ '," I elaborated, letting my hand fall to my side. "He only does that around other people, for _some_ reason. He puts a heavy amount of emphasis on it too."

He gave me a smug grin, though he didn't get a chance to say anything more.

"Alright, are we ready to head out now?!" Shiori called out, twisting her head around from where she and Chika were standing. "I bet they've nearly finished setting up the booths, so we should get a move on!"

I glanced around confusedly, just barely catching sight of Rindou, who was wearing a fairly plain dark red Yukata, standing right beside Yotaro, who was sitting on top of Raijinmaru. I didn't think they were here before, but one person was still missing.

"… Is Jin-senpai not showing up?" Karasuma piped up before I could, dark eyes flickering through our current group.

" _Nope_ , he just up-and-left earlier." Shiori pouted. "He's probably dozing off in a ditch somewhere."

Yuma glanced at me quickly, but it wasn't an accusing stare, just curious. I frowned lightly, already getting the message.

' _After our next rank wars match_ ,' I promised myself silently. ' _After tomorrow, I'll try to have a talk with him_.'

I could almost hear the echo of Yuma's voice.

'… _I'll hold you to that, Mori_.'

-0-

My eye twitched. "… We've lost them _already_?"

Yuma hummed, standing beside me with a bemused expression. "Seems so, Mori."

Chika glanced around worriedly, standing on my other side as she leaned on my arm. Both of my teammates had death grips on my arms, just so they wouldn't be swept up in the crowd and get lost.

"… Do you think they're ok?" Chika wondered out-loud.

I was _pretty_ tall for my gender and age, but it seemed like everyone else around me still towered over us… Whatever, I'm still only 15.

"Kizaki-san's smart, he'll keep an eye on Konami and Karasuma-senpai," I pointed out helpfully. "And Raijinmaru wouldn't stray too far from Rindou-san, no matter what Yotaro tries to tell him to do. Now, Shiori…"

Shiori, I had seen willingly stray from the rest of our group. But she had something more important to do, so I silently let her go.

"…Shiori's with someone else," I settled for, eyes still flickering around the crowd. "She'll be fine, don't worry about it."

Shiori clearly wanted to spend some time with her previous squad, after all. Kikuchihara-senpai, Utagawa-san, Mikami-san and Kazama-san wouldn't let her get lost.

"…Ok then." Yuma nodded, easily accepting my answer. "So, what do we do?"

"There're games everywhere… Or food stands," I offered, gesturing vaguely into the crowd. "I can see ring tossing not too far from us."

"… _What's the point of tossing rings_?"

I could hear the confusion in Yuma's voice, and it _almost_ made me laugh.

"C'mon, we'll show you," Chika patiently offered, moving around me to stand in between us, grabbing both of our hands as she began to walk through the crowds. "It'll cost a bit of money though, so if you don't want to try, you don't need to."

"No, it sounds interesting," Yuma reassured from the other side of her, doing his best to shield her from the bustling crowd even though we were slightly behind her. "… But I _do_ kinda want to get a snack afterwards."

"That's a thing we can do," I agreed quietly, although they may not have heard me. We finally arrived at the station though, the woman working at the stand waving to us with a smile.

" _Hello_! How may I help you today?"

I waved back, a little out of my element as Yuma and Chika pushed me ahead of them. "… Could we get… _6_ tries please?"

She nodded back, not at all put out by my awkwardness as she reached down to grab 6 rings. "That'll be 1000 yen, please!"

I fished said change out of my pocket and exchanged it for the rings as I turned to Yuma and Chika quickly.

"Alright," I placed three rings in each of their hands, already gesturing towards the area to throw the rings in. "You two can get 3 tries each, so—"

"You're not going to try?" Yuma questioned, raising an unimpressed eyebrow.

I hesitated slightly, but eventually shook my head as I glanced at the rings. "…I don't really care. _Besides_ , Chika has good enough aim to clean out all of the prizes if she wanted to."

Chika blushed at my words, stunned at the praise. "—N-now, big sister, I-I'm sure you could do the same."

I shook my head, a smile unwillingly forming as I backed off slightly. "No, I probably can't. _C'mon guys_ , don't hold up the non-existent line, and here's some more change if you want some more tries."

Yuma nodded, already taking the coins with one hand, and Chika's wrist with the other as he made his way closer to the stand. "Chika, you need to teach me the rules. Mori can be anti-social if she wants to."

My smile turned slightly teasing as I grinned at their backs. "I bet you'll miss all of the rings."

He waved back, not even glancing back at me while Chika giggled at our banter.

It was nice.

Before long, I'd gotten slightly bored of watching Chika patiently directing Yuma through the rules of the game, with the white-haired teen doing his best to follow.

( _Let it be known that Yuma has the worst aim out of us three. Not that it should be a shock, with me being a shooter and Chika a sniper, but still._ )

I'd gotten so bored, that nearly anything could distract me.

And something did.

My nose barely twitched, and my head spun around as my eyes flickered towards a random stand across the street.

"… Are those…" I squinted. "Candy apples?"

… _Holy shit_ , they were.

'… _They won't notice if I'm quick_ ,' I reasoned in my head, glancing around as I watched Yuma miss the mark once more, turning back to the lady with another few coins. Chika shook her head of the corner of my eye, and I nodded to myself. ' _They're too busy to notice._ '

I snuck away silently, passing through the crowd with some difficulty, arriving in front of the stand within a few seconds.

"Thank god there's no line yet," I muttered to myself, before facing the stand owner and raising my voice. "2 candy apples, please!"

He nodded quickly, and I fished a few coins out of my pocket as he quickly grabbed two of said snack from the small stand he had set up, before trading with me.

He counted the coins in his hand, but I already knew I had given exact change, so I walked off while he was distracted.

"Alright, now just to—"

I froze, candy apple in each hand, and I glanced around the road blankly.

People all around, as far as I could see. The stands were barely visible over everyone's heads, and I blinked rapidly as the situation began to dawn on me.

( _… Am… Am I lost?_ )

" _Ah_." I glanced at the stand where I believed Chika and Yuma were, before finding that they were no longer present.

"… ** _Shit_**."

( _This can't get_ ** _any_** _worse, can it_.)

-0-

( _Alright, you should_ ** _know_** _not to tempt fate like that. Seriously Mori, haven't you learned your lesson?_ )

Within only a few minutes of walking and blankly glancing around, I soon wandered upon _this_ …

… ** _Annoyance_**.

"Are you even listening to me?! _Listen_ , I am—!"

"Yes, _your majesty_ , I was _totally_ listening," I droned on bleakly, staring off into space as I repeated the same words for, what, the fourth time? "You're the _great_ and _almighty_ son of the _Yuiga_ family or _whatever_. **_Look_** , I _really_ don't care if you're the son of a famous company boss, or the prince of who-knows-where himself, I think you should shut the fuck up… Right about _now_."

( _… Still, the name 'Yuiga' sounds vaguely familiar. Should I know him?_ )

Obviously, I had muttered the ruder bits too quietly to be heard, as he triumphantly placed his hands on his hips. "That's right. So you _better_ —"

"I'm sorry, you sad son of a bitch," I cut him off irritatedly, eye twitching. "Correct me if I'm _wrong_ , but aren't you _also_ — _Perchance,_ ** _lost_** _?_ "

There was a sad, drawn-out silence with only the sounds of the crowd around us. The teen visibly wilted.

"That's what I thought," I muttered, finally turning away. "Also, stop screeching. My ears are _seriously_ gonna explode."

Yuiga glared at me weakly for a few more moments, before opening his mouth to annoyingly refute me, before being cut off.

"Ah, Mikumo, there you are—" I didn't have enough time to move my head—even an inch— before the person hastily cut themselves off. "— _Oh no_."

I spun my head around, quickly recognizing the voice's owner. The arrival of someone, anyone familiar was a blessing when I had to withstand minutes of listening to Yuiga blabbing on and on…

" _Karasuma-sen_ —!"

" ** _YOU!_** "

Yuiga shrieked, his pointing finger whipping past my face to gesture at Karasuma. I could feel a slight wave of wind from his movement, and my eye twitched from being interrupted.

"Can you not?" I grumbled through gritted teeth, slapping his hand away absentmindedly before turning to Karasuma. Karasuma, who looked slightly regretful as he glanced at Yuiga.

( _Yeah, I regret running into this guy too. Poor Karasuma-senpai._ )

But for as much as I pitied my teacher, I couldn't help but feel grateful that I wasn't experiencing this misery alone.

"Karasuma-senpai, do you know where Yuma and Chika are?" I quickly asked, stepping in front of Yuiga to block his face from Karasuma's view. "I lost them a while ago, but I couldn't go looking for them with this… _flea,_ following me."

He looked slightly amused at my choice of words, and the two of us ignored the indignant squawk that echoed from behind me.

"I saw them standing with some other people earlier, but Yuma insisted that he knew them," Karasuma smoothly replied. "He also told our group that they lost track of you, so Reiji-san offered our assistance… And we just so happened to come across Tachikawa-squad on the way, with them missing a group member as well."

"Tachikawa-squad's lost someone too…?" I hummed, before taking another bite of the candy apple in my left hand. "Well, would you like to lead the way?"

( _Who's their fourth member anyway...? I don't recall meeting them yet._ )

He nodded, the two of us attempting to hide how eager we were to leave Yuiga behind. "They're just over here—"

"STOP IGNORING ME! How dare you, I _WILL_ CALL A LAWYER!"

"Ah, right." Karasuma leaned over casually to peer around me, although I could see his eye twitch slightly. "Are you aware of who this is, Mikumo?"

"Kind of… _Not really_." I shrugged, matching Karasuma's pace as we began to walk away. "I've heard snippets like, he's part of Border, and he's apparently the son of someone ' _important_ '. I wasn't really listening to the rest…"

"HOW _COULD YOU_ **_NOT—?!_** "

"My side-effect isn't hearing, after all," I cut Yuiga off, trying to ignore how he was following us. " _Although_ … Kikuchihara-senpai would probably find a way to block out the noise no matter what. There's only so much annoyingness someone can take…"

Yuiga drooped, slightly falling behind. Though he was annoyingly quick to recover. "Kikuchihara Shiro is _only_ from the No. 3 squad! He should be _honoured_ to listen to _someone such as m_ —"

" _THERE YOU ARE,_ _YOU_ ** _LITTLE SHIT_** _!_ "

A blur quickly cut in between Karasuma and I, with a leg outstretched that knocked Yuiga down to the ground with an obnoxiously loud ' _OOF_ '.

Karasuma blinked confusedly, but my eyes had already registered the familiar blond hair.

I spun around, watching the figure loop their arm around Yuiga's neck and dig their fist into the side of his skull. _Painfully_.

"—Not only did you somehow manage to get yourself lost, but you also ended up running into Mori-chan! If you're going to run off, could you at least not go around causing trouble for everyone else—!"

" _Mori-chan_ ~" Kunichika slid in front of me, effectively cutting off my view from the scene the two A-ranks were making. "So you're at the festival too, huh?"

People are beginning to stare. God, why does everyone I'm acquainted with like to cause a big scene?

"Ah, I guess?" I muttered, easily peeking over her head to watch Izumi continue scolding Yuiga. "…Do you two… _Know him_?"

"Hm… I guess you could say that." She sighed, placing a hand against her chin. "He's the team burden, I suppose."

"… He's the last member of Tachikawa squad?" I blankly turned to Karasuma, who's flat expression matched my own. " _Seriously_?"

The two of them nodded in unison, as a cloud of misery seemed to form over Kunichika's head. "… Sadly…"

"Wow, that's rough." I pat my friend on the shoulder, finally catching sight of Izumi. Said teen was sighing in exasperation, finally finished his lecture as he began dragging Yuiga by the collar over to us.

( _Honestly, I'm surprised no one's asked us to leave… They're causing such a scene_.)

"Mori-chan," Izumi waved towards me, flashing a slight grin. "Sorry about any problems this guy may have caused you."

I shook my head sympathetically, glancing down at the seemingly ( _dead, my mind whispered_ ) dejected Yuiga. "It wasn't that bad… At least I don't need to deal with him on a day-to-day basis."

Yuiga sprang up suddenly, angered once again. " _WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY_ —?!"

But he was once again, cut off by Izumi. _Izumi_ , who had chopped him in the neck with a slightly strained smile on his face.

" _That's_ ** _enough_** _outta you_."

Yuiga dropped back down to the floor, sobbing dramatically.

I glanced back at Izumi, watching him sigh heavily, before abruptly dropping Yuiga. "... I'm _so_ sorry for everything you've had to deal with this evening."

"Anyway, we need to head back to the rest of the group," Karasuma flatly stated, pointing in the general direction we were previously walking in. "We left Kuga and Amatori over there, since Kuga said he knew the people we found them with."

He paused, before shrugging. "And Reiji-senpai and Konami-senpai will be going back soon since they evidently couldn't find you. Would you two—"

"Three!" Yuiga wailed in frustration from his spot on the ground. "There's _three_ of us here, don't ignore me!"

"—... _Three_ of you. Would the three of you like to join us?" Karasuma's voice was strained, and seemed to have a tinge of exasperation in it.

"Sure, we'll follow~" Kunichika piped up with a grin. "You can lead the way, whenever you're ready."

"Ah, wait." Izumi paused, before spinning around on his feet. "A certain _SOMEONE_ , still needs to _APOLOGIZE_ for _SOMETHING_ , **_REMEMBER_**?"

"—Alright, _alright_... Just... give me a second..."

I blinked confusedly, the motion having been repeated for what seemed like the hundredth time today.

—Dark grey hair, dark eyes that had lost nearly all of the intensity that I had previously seen them with—

Tachikawa Kei walked out from where he had been leaning against one of the stalls nearby, barely within hearing range before he stepped closer.

Unwillingly, a shiver crawled up my spine.

-0-

Last time Tachikawa had seen those dull green eyes, they had been wide with terror as the figure stood there, shaking with fear and a luminescent cube tight in her grasp.

He had been far too distracted to care at the time to pay much attention at the time.

Or rather, he'd been far more focused than ever before, just on someone other than the young teen.

He chopped the street in half multiple times, and on the edge of his senses, he barely noticed the teen girl scurrying away from the scene. He didn't care.

And for all he was _just_ as curious as Kazama was about Jin's kouhai, the only thought occupying his mind was that _Izumi lost contact with HQ_ , _one of these_ ** _goddamn_** _Neighbours_ ** _dared_** _to lay a hand on_ ** _his_** **_team_** _and he wasn't there at the time_ —

Izumi was confirmed safe later on though, and they were left with the aftermath of the invasion.

" _Rather disappointing, Tachikawa_."

Shinoda, his teacher, was standing at the edge of the room with a forlorn expression as he stared off into the empty air. Kinuta was glaring at him, not much of a surprise, and Rindou had been kicked straight out of a few of the future meetings, on account of his behaviour at the press conference.

Though Kido was simply staring down the A-rank with dark, stormy eyes.

" _Worse than a disappointment, honestly!_ " Kinuta yelled, pounding his fist against the table in rage. " _A complete betrayal! He disobeyed our direct orders, and during a large-scale invasion no less!_ "

Demands flew across the room. Demands for an explanation, demand's for the answers that HQ was missing. As per usual.

But Tachikawa only grinned sheepishly, giving the lamest excuse he could think up.

" ** _Haha, I must've accidentally turned off my communicator! You see, I didn't hear any of your orders, whatsoever!_** "

Kido looked like he desperately wanted to jump across the table and cut off Tachikawa's head.

It was utter bullshit, of course, that much was clear. But everyone in the room knew that Tachikawa was too skilled, too valuable for Border to lose.

( _Tachikawa reluctantly agrees that it wasn't_ ** _complete_** _bullshit. He really wasn't paying attention all that much, but that was just the general announcements. Like when they announced that Izumi was safe again, Tachikawa didn't hear that. But he_ ** _did_** _hear all of their direct orders… Not that anyone needed to know that._ )

He got off with their definition of ' _a warning'_.

But now that that was all cleared up and out of the way... Tachikawa finally had time to reflect on the thoughts that had been plaguing him since Jin first stood before him, in the middle of the street. Standing between Tachikawa and his target, the black Trigger being kept at Tamakoma.

Something about the invasion has cleared up a bit of that fog. Something he couldn't _quite_ put his finger on, something that was there, that wasn't before.

 ** _"... I just don't want you grown-ups... interfering with the battles of my kouhai."_**

Jin really bothered him sometimes. Saying cryptic stuff like that all the time…

 _Jeez_ , that guy already knew that Tachikawa was only battle-smart, so why'd he say things like that when the fight was already over?

It was beyond frustrating at times. If Kazama couldn't figure out what Jin meant half the time, _how was Tachikawa even supposed to guess_?

But this time, instead of being forgotten in the back of his mind over time... That quote stuck around.

Kazama seemed to understand it on the spot, which was _kind_ of irritating. Tachikawa secretly thought he shared his thoughts on that with his team, because _why else would Kikuchihara of all people get involved with a newbie so suddenly_ , especially after **_years_** of being antisocial and— _for the most part_ —only talking with his own team.

But Kazama still wouldn't tell Tachikawa what it meant.

 _That being said_ , Tachikawa had never directly asked, but those two had known each other for long enough for Kazama to tell when Tachikawa needed help with something.

He was probably just keeping it to himself to mess with him.

( _Jerk_.)

Tachikawa tried thinking about it a lot. **_Especially_** after the invasion.

( _He could practically hear the higher-up's muttering... "This just proves how terrible Neighbours are—" "—How long is Tamakoma going to continue to shelter Neighbours—?!"_ )

The thoughts ran through his mind like a yo-yo, bouncing back and forth with no visible progress or change in the slightest.

One thing rang true though...

During the invasion, HQ had told him not to move from his post.

It didn't matter if Izumi was possibly captured, it didn't matter to them at all. Not in the slightest.

And for the first time, in a very long time... _Tachikawa questioned HQ's decision_.

But Tachikawa isn't exactly the type to do too much complicated thinking in the heat of the moment. So the moment he questioned it, he made the decision to ignore whatever they had to say and just **_act_**.

It was _that_ simple the entire time, huh. He just needed to make the decision to protect the people he wanted to protect, regardless of what's happened in the past.

He wouldn't let the higher-ups mess with his kouhai. Just like Jin wouldn't let them mess with his own.

And unintentionally, he had both nearly killed, but _also_ saved Jin's kouhai during the invasion.

 _If_ by complete accident.

... Jin owes him for this.

But Tachikawa also owes that four-eyes. She saved Izumi, after all.

(... _No wonder Kazama didn't tell him. It was really_ **that** _simple to figure out._ )

-0-

Last time I had seen the man, was a quick, fleeting glance during the invasion. That one _eerily calm_ second before _all hell broke loose_ as the street was cut in half, and panic overtook my mind while I ran.

Now, it was almost as if I was looking at a different person. Gone was the cold, calm, calculating rage simmering in his eyes.

The person who had appeared on one of the worst days of my life; both a disaster and a savior rolled up in one,

Was in front of me.

"... Sorry for what happened during the invasion. I didn't see you there at first."

I blinked in utter confusion, mind still reeling.

Before the tense atmosphere was broken like shattering glass, by...

... Izumi indignantly punching his captain in the arm.

"That's a **_horrible_** apology! _Do it over again_!"

Tachikawa only laughed loudly, bowing slightly to me with another joking apology tumbling out of his mouth.

His tone was light and joking, but there was an underlying sense of something I couldn't put my finger on.

( _Gratitude. It was… gratitude, wasn't it?_ )

And it was at that moment...

No matter how childishly Tachikawa would ever act in the future, there was not a single doubt in my mind that the man in front of me, was a man deserving of the title ' _No. 1_ '.

 _He was the_ ** _captain_** _of the No. 1 squad._

-0-

"Oh?"

Chika spun around, hearing Yuma's voice even over the roar of the nearby crowd. "Hm?"

"There she is," Yuma pointed out, turning away from the current conversation he was holding, despite the few frustrated protests being thrown out.

Chika turned, and true to his words, there Mori was. Standing behind Karasuma-san, and beside a taller individual and a shorter girl with long hair on the other side. There was a blond teen that Chika could recognize behind them, dragging along another teen with dark hair. Who seemed to be sobbing _a_ _touch_ too dramatically to be genuine.

Chika smiled, watching Mori awkwardly grin to the taller man beside her. The girl on her other side grinned and pat Mori's shoulder comfortingly.

" _She's so bothersome_... making us worry while she goes off and makes friends with other people..." Yuma huffed, pouting jokingly. "I can see the No. 1 squad shooter behind her... _Jeez_ , and she seemed _so_ nervous about meeting him earlier."

"She was," Chika agreed, watching Mori finally glancing over to them, waving excitedly towards both Chika and Yuma. Yuma waved back politely, bending over sideways to peer around the teen he was previously talking to.

" _Don't ignore me!_ " Kageura nagged loudly, finally losing his patience and reaching over to pull Yuma into a headlock. " _You're_ the one that dragged me over here to make small talk, _at least stay committed_ ** _you bastard_**!"

"Now, now, he was _just_ waving to his captain over there—" Kitazoe attempted to placate his captain, although in vain.

"I can **_see_** four-eyes over there! I'm not blind, and I can _feel_ her disgusting emotions from all the way over here!"

( _Chika distantly recalled Yuma and Mori retelling their meeting with the spiky-haired captain to Chika, shortly after the event itself. Mori held a great amount of admiration for_ ** _most_** _captains at Border, and Kageura was no exception from that._ )

Chika giggled, watching Yuma dangle from Kageura's grip uselessly. His easy-going expression hadn't faded in the slightest, and Chika had no doubt he could escape whenever he wished to.

Kageura could probably tell that too, so it was obvious the gesture was just to show his exasperation in being ignored.

" _Ah_... Amatori-san?"

Chika paused, turning towards the person she had been talking with herself.

Ema blushed faintly, the tinge of red barely visible through the bright lights of the festival stalls. He probably would've clammed up at that exact moment, if it weren't for the helpful nudge from Kitazoe and the **_somehow_** encouraging scowl on Kageura's part.

"… Would you like some... T-taiyaki? You said you might be interested in some earlier… And they have a stall for it over there."

Chika smiled, reaching out a hand to grasp Ema's loosely, just enough so that they wouldn't get separated in the crowd.

"Thank you, Ema-san."

She didn't notice Ema's blush intensifying as she gently pulled him towards the stand he had gestured towards. The three teens behind them did though, and both Kageura and Yuma sent Ema teasing smirks.

-0-

"You got lost, captain," Yuma huffed as he was released by Kageura. He turned to me, stepping over to my side in an instant. "You were so worried about Chika and I, but we all _know_ that you're the **_real_** troublemaker."

( _God, does Yuma even know what he's doing...? He automatically switches from 'Mori' to 'captain' whenever anyone from Border is around._ ** _This guy_.**)

"I'm not a troublemaker," I complained futilely.

"You _are_!" He chuckled, elbowing me playfully.

I glared at him lightly, before giving up and turning my head slightly. "... Fine. Who cares." I paused, before nodding towards Kageura. "By the way, thank you for taking care of this menace."

Kageura nodded back, scowl receding slightly. " _Whatever_. You owe me."

"Maybe you two should spar sometime. It'd be good practice since Yuma's only regular sparring partners are Shun, Konami, and I." He considered that for a moment, before shrugging without much issue.

Meanwhile, Yuma walked around me and offered out his hand to Tachikawa.

"Hi! I'm Kuga Yuma, nice to meet you!"

Kunichika peered around her captain, smiling lightly. "So you're Mori-chan's teammate? _Aw_ , you're so short~"

"I may be short, but I'm fifteen years old," Yuma accepted without issue, arm still outstretched to shake hands. "Could I maybe have a proper introduction, since the only time I heard about you was... When you guys were after Tamakoma, _y'know_?"

Yuiga launched himself up from where he'd been sulking on the ground. " _T-Tamakoma_...? W-What is this?! Was I left out of something _again_ —?!"

A swift chop on the back of the neck cut him off.

"Nice to _finally_ meet'cha, shrimp," Izumi waved, grinning at the white-haired boy.

"Nice to meet you." Yuma returned casually, as if the teen in front of him hadn't just attacked his teammate without mercy. Tachikawa sent a fond glance over towards his teammates before finally reached over to shake Yuma's hand.

"I'm Tachikawa Kei, No. 1 attacker." He grinned.

"Looking forward to fighting you sometime."

-0-

I paused my conversation with Izumi, the two of us having gotten distracted when I had noticed Yoneya and Miwa talking to each other at a nearby shooting booth.

Both Izumi and Yoneya had begun to chat with each other, while Miwa and I were left to silently nod at each other, either of us being brought into the conversation at random intervals.

I caught Rindou in the corner of my eye shortly after though, waving over to me with a slightly lax, blank expression. Yuma was standing beside him with a similarly confused expression, most likely having been dragged over from his conversation with Tachikawa and Kageura shortly before.

I stepped out of the friend circle quietly, waving off Izumi's questioning look, before speed-walking over to the boss and my best friend.

"Yo," I nodded over to Yuma, who waved back in a laid-back manner. "Do _you_ know why he pulled us over?"

"Who knows?" Yuma shrugged, closing his eyes and swinging his arms up behind his head casually. "With Rindou-san, he could've either just found a cool looking stuffed toy for Yotaro that he wants to win for him, or he's scheming something... _That will probably get us in trouble_."

" _Oi_ , _oi_ , I can hear you brats," He called over to us jokingly. "And I can win anything that Yotaro wants myself... I _do_ know how to aim, you know."

" _I'm sure_." Yuma's tone was joking, but the two of us were well aware that Rindou could probably beat us 10-0, no sweat.

I've never actually seen him fight, but I have no doubt that he could mop the floor with us… Though I'm not sure about if Yuma used his black Trigger, but I'm not exactly willing to test that theory either.

He paused, before shrugging. "Whatever. That's not what this is about anyway."

"Oh, so you _are_ scheming something." I groaned, leaning my head back.

"Don't phrase it like that, it makes me sound like a bad guy," Rindou complained. "Besides, _Jin's_ the scheming one." I winced slightly when the two of them gave me a pointed glance. "I just... How do I put this... I like to make things easier for everyone at Tamakoma. Whether that makes things harder for HQ, well... Who cares."

"Who cares," Yuma repeated, and I gave the two of them a scolding glare.

" _Anyways_ —" Rindou finally spoke up, patting me on the shoulder. "There's something important I need to tell you two. And I need you guys to go along with it too, starting on Monday."

"Monday?" I paused, giving him a questioning glance. "We have school on Monday, and another Rank wars match next weekend. Do we have time for whatever you have planned?"

Rindou froze at that. "...Well... You see, about ' _school_ '..."

Yuma and I shot each other a frantic glance. "Rindou-san, what did you do?"

" _Well, you see_ —"

" ** _What did you do._** "

-0-

"... So, Tachikawa."

"Hm?"

"He apologized or whatever, for nearly killing you during the invasion?"

"... He saved me too, you know."

"Eh, _same thing_. So, you guys talked?"

"... _They're not even close to the same thing_ , but yeah. He's a friendly guy, I guess. Apologized and everything."

"Izumi too. You guys are friends now?"

"Yeah... We became friends the other day, just like I told you. Doesn't 'snowball fight' ring a bell?"

"Oh yeah. I forgot about that."

"Whatever. Tachikawa-squad is... _mostly_ made up of nice people. Not sure about Yuiga though."

"Is **_anyone_** sure about Yuiga?"

" _Aha ha_... Well... I guess that whole festival business calmed me down a bit. Our next match is tomorrow... R-right?"

" _That's a bad lie_ , Mori. Haha, I can see you sweating. And you stuttered."

" ** _Shut_**."

"Hm... Still, you wanna spar a bit before heading to bed then? It might calm your nerves a bit."

"... _Fine_. Whatever, I wouldn't be able to sleep for a while anyway."

"I think Rindou-san's still awake, wanna ask him to practice with us?"

" ** _Please no_**. _I... still haven't recovered from what he told us earlier_."

"... That's fair. God, Monday's gonna be a mess."

-0-

Everything felt heavy, in a way that it hadn't been for years.

Jin hadn't felt this way in a long, long time, to say the least. The last time it may have come this close might've been those few weeks just after _Mogami-san_ gave his life to make the Fujin, one of Border's first black Triggers.

He wasn't expecting to feel this way again. Any time would still be far too soon.

He couldn't help it though.

( _He basically threw Mori— Mikumo,_ ** _four-eyes_** _, to the wolves_.)

And he hadn't really given away the fact that he knew she was likely to die either, he left it up to speculation to most people.

Nearly everyone… Except the one person that this mattered the most to.

The victim herself, _Four-eyes_ Mikumo Mori.

He might as well have said it outright, _for crying out loud_. How all that ' _warning_ ' was half-assed, it spoke volumes along with the crushing amount of emotion that had slipped through Jin's mask at the time that he saw that future.

The morning right before the invasion. In those _few_ moments he was alone with Mikumo, he saw that.

And he composed himself in seconds. _In hindsight_ , not the best impression to give others, but Jin couldn't let anyone know.

( _He could let anyone know that he couldn't take another loss that great_.)

The grief that was clinging stubbornly to him shouldn't have been this crushing. But it was, and it refused to leave for all that he wandered the city and stared at the grey, cloudy skies of winter.

( _Mikumo was still alive, Amatori was still alive, Miwa was still alive, Izumi was still alive, why did this hurt so much? Why did he feel like all of the trauma that they endured that day was all his fault?_ )

… He didn't want to face them.

He didn't want to face his guilt. He didn't want to face any of the impressions that people had gotten from his avoidance of everyone Border-related.

( _He was just_ ** _tired_**.)

(… _He just wanted to sleep_.)

-0-

 _ **A/N -**_

 _ **So, 1. The first half of the chapter was written months ago, and then the second half was written around a week or two ago (it took a while for my beta reader to get through it, sorry I'm posting it so late), So if it looks/feels like the transitions are kind of awkward... That's why.**_

 _ **2\. This chapter is REALLY, REALLY late, and I apologize deeply for that. It took a while for me to get back into writing(and trust me, I WAS TRYING REALLY HARD) and I just recently started to write like a madman to make up for the lost time. The update schedule will resume normally now, updates on saturdays/around that time.**_

 _ **3\. WORLD TRIGGER IS BACK! You would not believe how much I screamed when one of my readers pm'd to tell me about that, christ. I almost can't believe it after so long... Wow, what a year this has been.**_

 _ **4\. MERRY CHRISTMAS, AND HAPPY NEW YEAR! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to all my readers that have been waiting patiently for a new update, and thank you for being so understanding! I don't want to drag this on too long, but I can only apologize and thank you all for waiting for months.**_

 _ **So, I'll see you all again next week!**_


	15. Shots

"Mori...? _Mori_ , we should probably get going soon..."

I groaned.

". _.. 5 more... M'nutes_ …"

"I guess she's not moving. Should we just... carry her?"

"She still needs to change, Yuma. _Why are you two just lying here_ , anyway? She didn't even change out of what she was wearing yesterday."

I shifted slightly, my brain just now recognizing that, _yes_ , I was lying on the couch, with my head resting against my friend next to me. He probably carried me here when I fell asleep in the training room.

"They probably stayed up until midnight training again, Shiori. That would explain why she's refusing to get up..."

"... _I will neither confirm, nor deny that fact._ "

I reached out blindly for a pillow, before burying it into where I vaguely assumed Yuma's face was.

"Oh, she _is_ awake."

I heard Yuma huff and felt him shift from where I was leaning on him. "You didn't _need_ to throw a pillow at me."

I finally opened my eyes, blearily registering Chika and Shiori standing in front of the couch, and Yuma's bright white hair on the edge of my vision.

I reached out and pat him on the head weakly, before getting up with great effort. " _Th'nks for being m' pillow_."

Yuma let out a muffled snort, grabbing my hand before helping me to my feet. "I don't think you gave me much of a choice. You fell asleep on me."

" _Shh_. That's _totally_ not what happened," I denied weakly, grabbing my glasses from the coffee table nearby, hand missing said object a few times before I finally found them.

Yuma only laughed at my struggle. I would've thrown another pillow in his face, but gave up.

I only weakly chuckled as they lead me towards the room's door.

-0-

"...Are you sure she's up for a rank wars match today?" Karasuma questioned from the front, glancing behind him to the back seat with a raised eyebrow. "She looks dead tired."

"Mori _always_ looks tired," Yuma interjected with a grin. "Maybe if she didn't stay up so late all the time, _like a weirdo_ …"

"I can hear you two," I grumbled, before taking another bite of the dorayaki in my hand. I distantly remembered Kizaki telling me that it _wasn't a healthy breakfast_ , but he eventually gave up once everyone noticed how I was practically dead on my feet.

"I'd be more concerned if you _couldn't_ ," Yuma returned, from his spot mushed up beside me. I was sitting on the seat on the far right, Shiori on the left, while Chika and Yuma were both squished up beside each other in the middle seat.

" _Guys_ , not this early," Shiori whined. " _You three_ were the ones that _wanted_ to go to Border so early..."

"Mori wanted to train a bit before the match while patching together some last minute strategies," Chika explained, as kind as ever, despite Yuma and I having dragged her out of the branch building so early.

Karasuma twisted in his seat to glare at me, slightly ignoring Kizaki's scolding glance. " _Workaholic_ ," He accused with a deadpan expression.

"Whatever you want to call it," I brushed off, ignoring Yuma's amused chuckling.

-0-

" _Aaaaand_ back to the drawing board." Yuma cut me off, jumping off the nearby building and landing with a flip.

 ** _"Hey, don't shut down my ideas so quickly!"_** Shiori protested over the communicators. **_"I was just throwing it out there!"_**

"You're smarter than _that_ Shiori, so that was _definitely_ a gag idea." Yuma sighed, before glancing over at Mori, who was seemingly resting in the middle of the Trion-fabricated street. "Mori, do you have any of your ' _genius ideas'_?"

"By genius, do you mean, ' _blow up the nearest building_ '?"

" _Chika_ , don't drag me like this!" Mori finally jolted up, glaring indignantly at her teammates in sight. "I'm smarter than that!"

"Are you _sure_ about that?" Yuma teased, crouching on his spot from the top of a smaller building. "Because your track record of plans currently stands as; _blow up a building, split up, possibly kill yourself, and then, once again, blow up_ ** _another_** _building_ —"

" _Do you wanna fight?!_ " Mori sprung up from her slumped spot on the ground, automatically firing off a round of Asteroid in Yuma's general direction. None of them needed to look to tell that he had probably dodged, as his playful cackles rang out in the Trion-simulated world.

Chika sighed, slowly slumping to the ground as her two teammates began to half-heartedly spar. She had noticed that on several occasions, despite Mori's seemingly short-tempered disposition, those two had _never_ actually fought seriously.

 ** _"Guys~ We kind of need to think of something... We already went over the stages Nasu-squad was most likely to pick, but that's really_ all _we did,"_** Shiori's voice rang out in the ears. **_"Reiji-san and Torimaru left a while ago, and we only have one hour until the match starts."_**

"And _as much_ as I know you two like to go into these fights _blind_ so you can improvise better—" Chika interjected politely, yet firmly. "—I'd like to at least consider our opponents and think about who we might want to fight."

 ** _"Also, also, also!"_** Shiori spoke up again. **_"I heard a little rumour that Nasu squad got another member!"_**

Yuma blinked, chuckling finally coming to a halt. "A fourth teammate?"

"Where'd you hear this, Shiori?" Mori spoke up disbelievingly, lowering both arms from where they had been holding up two Trion cubes.

 ** _"Heh heh... Don't underestimate the Operator-Girls-Gossip-Circle!"_**

"... _I'll remember that for next time_." Mori sighed, before dropping back down to the ground with a grumble. Yuma joined her not even 10 seconds later, leaping down from the building to sit beside both Chika and Mori.

"...Murakami," Yuma finally spoke up, breaking the contemplative silence between the team. "I already said _I'd_ take him down, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but what's our plan for _after_ that." It was phrased more like a flat statement than a question, which Mori winced at. "I'm not good enough to go against Nasu, and I'm _not_ going to pretend I can, not even for a minute. And Chika can't shoot people… So she'll be reserved as cover-fire again."

 ** _"Also, people are most_ definitely _going to notice that after this match,"_** Shiori added sadly. **_"There've been one or two people like her in Border before, so the sharper agents will catch on right away. This is our last round to really have Chika shoot_ effectively _."_**

Chika didn't falter at their words. They've talked about it before anyway, and she was well aware she could only go _so far_ as she was.

"Not to mention, there are also other people _besides_ Murakami and Nasu. They have their teams too." Mori muttered, also wanting to move on from that topic at the moment. "The best option here would be to divide and conquer, but we don't have the option of picking the map this time. In fact, Nasu squad _also_ gets that honour."

"So they've got two advantages over us," Yuma concluded. "The fourth, currently unknown member, and the map choosing."

 ** _"Another member added so soon can sometimes mess them up more than help though!"_** Shiori cut in optimistically. **_"It's another part you need to incorporate into your circle of teamwork, so it can be more trouble than it's worth."_**

"I've got a feeling things won't go so well for us if we underestimate them like that, though." Mori groaned, burying her hands in her face. " _What're we going to do...?_ "

"...Come to think of it, you've had something on your mind all morning, haven't you, Mori?" Yuma asked curiously, although not meanly. "Wanna share?"

Mori was silent, but a small grin began to form on her lips.

". _.. Ah... Maybe next time._ "

-0-

 ** _"Tachikawa-san... Is it alright if I ask you something?"_**

 ** _The man blinked, Yakisoba noodles hanging halfway out of his mouth._**

 ** _Said person slurped them up quickly, before turning to face me fully. "Sure kid, what's up?"_**

 ** _'He's already calling me "kid"...' My eye twitched slightly. 'How casual.'_**

 ** _"I was kind of wondering... How do you go about being the captain for your squad?" I paused, a few people coming to mind. "I know a few captains, Reiji-san, Miwa-Baka, I met Arafune-san briefly after our match with his team and Suwa's... But I've never gotten around to asking anything like this. How can I be a good captain for my team?"_**

 ** _He blinked again, the motion quick yet seemingly drawn out. "You just asked me two questions."_**

 ** _..._**

 ** _I tilted my head, already confused._**

 ** _"...Huh?"_**

 ** _"Well, you asked me how_ I _was a captain—" He took another bite of the tray of yakisoba he was holding. "—And you asked how_ you _can be a captain. Different."_**

 ** _"Ah, I… I guess. I didn't really think about that, if that makes much sense?"_**

 ** _"No, it's fine," He replied, slowing his pace slightly to linger behind the group we were with. Our group, including Karasuma, Izumi, Kunichika, and Yuiga. "Cause every captain is different, obviously. I'll offer some examples, just because. Did you really think that… Let's just say,_ Miwa _would lead his team the same way I lead mine?"_**

 ** _I paused at that, feeling slightly stupid. "Well... I suppose not. That was a bad question."_**

 ** _"No, you're on the right track," He hummed._**

 ** _(I almost face-planted at how casual he was despite this being the first time we've officially met, and the strange circumstances behind our first... 'meeting'.)_**

 ** _"Still, this is nice. Whenever I get asked for advice of any kind at all, it's usually sword fighting stuff." He picked up another bunch of noodles from the tray. "Which I guess, isn't really bad, but it's kind of redundant. Most people don't get that fighting power isn't everything."_**

 ** _My eye twitched, just slightly. 'It kind of lacks meaning coming from the No. 1 attacker AND the No. 1 squad captain...'_**

 ** _"Most people don't expect it from our team in particular I guess, cause they don't think it's our forte." He lifted up a finger. "Teamwork. With people like Izumi and I, they assume that we're completely lacking in teamwork, and make up for it in raw fire-power. And then with Yuiga... Well, it's hard to imagine any kind of teamwork between us four."_**

 ** _"... I can't see that." I paused, before realizing how rude that might've sounded. "I mean, I don't really think it'd be easy to coordinate with Yuiga either, but the 'no teamwork' thing is something I can't agree with... I guess?"_**

 ** _"Right?" He elbowed me, attention briefly leaving the plate he held in front of him while walking. "You get it. Most people don't notice it, but Izumi actually works best with other people."_**

 ** _"Yeah, I kinda got that feeling." He nodded for me to continue, despite probably already knowing everything I was about to say. "I find that there are mainly two types of shooters... People that are good backup, and sometimes have trouble getting points on their own. But they can make up for any weakness in that department once they're providing cover fire for a teammate... And then there are people that mainly go on their own, and gain points mainly through strategy and-or raw-firepower."_**

 ** _"Yeah, that's about it." He glanced back down at his chopsticks. "Izumi's right in the middle there. Ever since he came to Border, he's been a natural in the shooter department. Everyone noticed right away how he could provide perfect cover fire, but also come up with innovative ideas that make him a force to be reckoned with on his own. And he had pretty high Trion levels, being one of the highest Trion levels besides Ninomiya and Amatori. And this was before he even came up with the composite bullets."_**

 ** _(... Ninomiya? Why does that name sound familiar?)_**

 ** _"But he had a wild reckless streak when he was starting out." Tachikawa laughed loudly._**

 ** _Almost as if sensing he was being spoken about, Izumi swung his head back with a curious glance. Tachikawa quickly waved him off while regaining his composure._**

 ** _"... You actually kind of remind me of him, you know. I watched the log from your last match."_**

 ** _"... Oh." My face burned, and I didn't really doubt anymore that I was probably blushing. This happens way too often._**

 ** _(In my defence, blowing up the building SEEMED like a good idea AT THE TIME! And it WORKED, so no one can complain!)_**

 ** _"Don't worry, it was pretty cool to watch," He assured, finally finishing the plate of yakisoba. He leaned over to quickly toss the empty tray in a nearby trash can, before returning. "Anyways, I got side-tracked bragging about my team. The point is, our team is vastly different from... Let's just say, Miwa's team. His squad is largely teamwork oriented, and most people think of Miwa—Or Kazama squad when they initially think 'Teamwork'. So I don't get asked about that kind of advice often."_**

 ** _"... Interesting." I paused, before squinting and pointing an accusing finger at him. "You still didn't really give me an answer though."_**

 ** _"Ah, maybe next time," He laughed, watching Kunichika slowly lag back to walk beside us. "... I'm starting to realize why Kazama likes to keep things secret like this. It's kind of fun."_**

 ** _"You're getting amusement out of my confusion?!"_**

-0-

 ** _"Welcome to B-rank wars round 3... The day match is about to begin!"_**

Mikami smiled, sitting up straight in her spot. **_"I am Mikami from Kazama-squad, and I'll be doing the play-by-play today. For commentary, we have..."_**

She gestured to the seats beside her, smile slightly brightening. **_"The No. 1 Attacker, Tachikawa Kei, and Kageura Masato from the No. 2 B-rank squad!"_**

 ** _"Why am I here?!"_** Kageura yelled, punching the desk out of rage. **_"I didn't sign up for this shit!"_**

 ** _"Sorry Kageura-san, but the first person we thought of just so happened to be absent,"_** Mikami apologized formally, although she was completely unaffected by the crude language.

 ** _"You just so happened to be unlucky enough to be passing by."_** Tachikawa grinned from beside him. **_"It's been awhile since we last talked, huh?"_**

 ** _"Stop smugly grinning at me, you fu—!"_**

 ** _"Moving right along,"_** Mikami continued, unperturbed. **_"So, the stage that Nasu squad has picked this time is... Riverbank A. What do you think their strategy is?"_**

She nodded to Tachikawa first, just so the two of them could give Kageura enough time to calm down.

 ** _"No jokes?"_**

 ** _"No jokes."_**

 ** _"Ah, you're no fun,"_** He laughed, before returning his eyes to the screen. **_"Well, I'd say this is mostly to hold off the attackers. They'll regroup before destroying the bridge... And use the river to separate themselves from the attackers."_** He paused. **_"Though terrain won't be the deciding factor of the match, you know? With cover-fire, any attacker can easily cross the river... Well, I'm not sure about Kuga though. He is pretty short."_**

 ** _"Tachikawa-san,"_** Mikami's scolding tone cut in, though both Tachikawa and Kageura had snorted at the white-haired attacker's expense. **_"I thought I said no jokes."_**

 ** _"Sorry, sorry. Kageura, your opinion?"_**

Said spiky-haired teen was silent before he crossed his arms with a scoff. **_"I've got a weird feelin' about this match. Nasu's probably got more than just than that up their sleeves. Not that it'll help."_**

 ** _"Oh, he's finally accepting the commentator position~"_** Tachikawa teased, before pulling out a candy bar from his pocket.

 ** _"LIKE HELL!"_**

 ** _"Send in all squads!"_** Mikami ignored the two rowdy attackers to her right once again.

 ** _"All agents are in place! The stage is Riverbank A! Weather conditions are... Foggy storm!"_**

-0-

A few stray raindrops landed on my head harmlessly, and I sighed heavily before equipping a Bagworm. "Guys, you're in?"

 ** _"Obviously,"_** Yuma teased lightly. **_"Well, I've checked the radar... Hey, I'm on the same side as you, Mori."_**

 ** _"Along with both... Kumagai, Nasu, Kuruma, AND Murakami!"_** Shiori shrieked in disbelief. **_"All of the snipers have been separated from the mid-close range fighters, people are_ definitely _going to figure out Chika at this rate!"_**

"Well, there's not much we can do about that, is there?" I sighed, nearly slipping on the sidewalk I was running on due to the light rain. I could barely see 10 feet in front of me, which was definitely going to be an issue later on. "There's something else I'm worried about though."

 ** _"Hm? What?"_**

"...We figured Nasu was going to pick this map due to the circumstances, so they could distance themselves from the attackers..." I paused, eyes warily scanning the fog. "...But this weather is just going to make it more difficult to shoot accurately. I can barely see where the buildings are..."

 ** _"Oh right, Nasu gets the jump on people by using the nearby buildings as footholds, right?"_** Yuma added, along with the buzz of static that came with his voice. I could distantly hear an echo of rainfall from his communicator. **_"Then Kumagai helps block any attackers from getting near her from the ground, and then they'll tag-team people like that."_**

 ** _"Kind of— Good enough."_** Shiori hummed. **_"We put the Spider into Mori's Trigger slots so she could climb up the side of buildings easier with the string, but it's hard to properly aim at the buildings with the fog..."_**

"But still, how are they supposed to find us like this?" I thought out loud again, humming quietly in thought as I ran towards Yuma's location, as according to Shiori's directions. "... Something isn't adding up—"

A bright flash in front of me was the only thing that alerted my side effect to danger. It was so sudden, but my brain reacted without a second thought as I threw myself to the ground.

A sharp blade soared over my head harmlessly, just as my eyes caught sight of a dark green and black uniform through the fog.

Murakami.

"Oh crap oh crap oh crap—" I hissed, steadily scrambling back to my feet as Murakami reared his sword back once again. **_"Yuma, I'm gonna need to get back to you on that '_ meeting up _' thing—"_**

Murakami's Bagworm slowly disappeared from around his shoulders as he swung again.

-0-

"... Well this isn't very lucky, is it?"

Nasu hummed, currently standing just a few meters in front of Yuma. Large cubes of Trion hovered over both of her hands, slowly splitting up as the bullets began to circle around her form. "Maybe. I do have other things I need to do though, so as much as I hate to do this... I need to get past you."

"What a coincidence!" Yuma cheerily sang, Scorpion twirling around in his grip. "I've got places to be too! Maybe we could just get past each other, call it a day?"

Nasu's lips twitched. "Unfortunately, I cannot allow that. I need as many points as I can get."

Yuma hummed, although the tone was a bit strained. Unseen to his opponent and the audience, he spoke wordlessly into his communicator. **_"Sorry Mori, I'm a bit caught up too."_**

-0-

 ** _"Ah, Chika-chan. Sorry, Both Mori and Yuma are stuck on the other side of the river... So I don't think you can count on them coming over here to help."_**

Chika nodded from her spot, although no one could see. "It's fine. I checked the radar earlier, I figured it wouldn't be so easy."

 ** _"... I think they've got some difficult opponents, but Mori has_ some _semblance of a plan brewing. She asked me if you think you can just prevent people from getting many points on this side?"_**

Chika nodded, hands gripping the Ibis tightly as her eyes scanned the terrain closely. She couldn't see any of the other three agents on this side... Well, that was to be expected of snipers. They were fairly decent at hiding.

 ** _"By the way, are you... Ok with fighting this time?"_** Shiori asked worriedly. **_"Your friend, Natsume... She is part of Nasu-squad now. If you don't want to attack her—"_**

"On the contrary," Chika cut in softly, eyes still gazing intensely at her surroundings through the sniper rifle. "I'm glad she made it to B-rank, and I'm so thankful that she worked hard enough to get invited to a good team. So I want to fight this match no matter what, so I can see how much she's practised."

There was a short pause, just before Shiori finally returned.

 ** _"... You're really strong, Chika-chan. Ok, I'll leave this to you then. I'll keep an eye out for if you need any help though."_**

"Thank you, Shiori." Chika smiled. "I just need to keep people from getting any points, huh?"

-0-

 ** _"All of the Snipers got caught on one side, huh?"_** Tachikawa grinned. **_"Pure luck, but it might turn out to be interesting."_**

 ** _"Huh?! It'll be fucking boring, they're just going to be hiding the whole goddamn time!"_** Kageura yelled, kicking his legs up and onto the desk. **_"The first one to shoot is essentially going to be the sacrificial lamb, so the rest of them can get a move on and start shooting. Whoever reveals their position first is gonna die, so no one will move carelessly with that in mind."_**

 ** _"...A surprisingly in-depth analysis on Kageura-san's part,"_** Mikami muttered, ignoring his offended growl. **_"But I have a feeling that isn't going to be the case. Have you ever watched any of Tamakoma-2's logs?"_**

 ** _"Who has the time to go through_ all _of those fucking videos?!"_**

 ** _"Ah, Mikami has a point,"_** Tachikawa nodded along. " ** _Amatori's cannon-style method of sniping may shake things up on that side. Also, Nasu squad now has two snipers, so one of them can use their position as bait, while their other sniper can pick off anyone that goes after them. Even if someone manages to steal a point from Nasu-squad, the other sniper can still move around to get more points."_**

 ** _"... I guess that's not a half-bad point, for YOU."_**

Mikami leaned over to peer around Tachikawa. **_"You're not very good at this 'commentary' thing, are you?"_**

 ** _"YOU'RE THE ONE THAT FUCKING DRAGGED ME HERE, YOU—!"_**

-0-

Murakami had struck me as the kind of guy that rarely ever got irritated.

But then again, I suppose anyone would get frustrated, after this long of nothing progressing.

( _God, this is a mockery of a fight. Yuma would cry_.)

"Eh—" I threw my head to the side, barely avoiding another swipe of Murakami's blade. I barely registered his eye twitch.

 ** _"Just a few more blocks!"_** Shiori called out, currently speaking into the communicator to both Yuma and I. **_"There are just 3 more intersections in between you two—"_**

A loud ' ** _boom_** ' rang out in response in the direction that Shiori was indicating through her directions.

 ** _"Ah, so Nasu's in that direction, huh?_** " I hummed, flipping a few times away from Murakami. " _I'll be going then_ —"

Murakami lunged this time, quicker than he was moving before. I had a split second as my eyes widened before I threw up a hasty shield in front of my neck and heart.

' _I can't see his sword, fuck, why is he blocking the sword with his body—?!_ '

The blade cut a deep gash straight into my shoulder, Trion leaking out in an instant.

Murakami regarded the shield in front of my neck with narrowed eyes. I'm pretty sure it blocked the last bit of his attack that had aimed for my head, but that wouldn't have worked if he had equipped Senku Kogetsu.

"Shit _shit shit_ —" I dematerialized the bagworm without a moment of hesitation, before readying 1 cube of Asteroid in the other hand.

His eyes widened at the bullets, and he immediately lifted his Raygust to block all of the shots.

( _Ah shit we're too close no shooter should be this close to the fucking No. 4 attacker—!_ )

The Spider-bullets I had been forming with my other hand were noticed at that moment, the bullets floating near-unnoticeably around us.

(' _Didn't notice that with all of the Asteroid being fired, did you?_ ' I couldn't help but snark in my head.)

The bullets all flashed at once, before firing off the strings directly at the teen in front of me and into the ground. Taut strings formed between the two targets, immobilizing the attacker for the moment.

With him successfully tied to the ground beneath us, I took a few steady leaps back to spread some distance between us.

( _It won't hold him for long, I need to get a move on—!_ )

The concrete wall to the left of us abruptly exploded.

My eyes barely caught a flash of white hair, before my partner was launching himself away from his opponent, and towards Murakami.

-0-

"Oh, something interesting is finally happening!"

Midorikawa hummed, staring up at the screen excitedly. "Yuma-senpai! Take him down!"

Kitora stared at the two boys sitting in front of them, eyes slightly narrowed. " _Could you two be any more obnoxious?_ "

Tokieda pat her on the arm comfortingly. "Just ignore them, Kitora."

"Isn't that a bit much?" Arashiyama laughed nervously.

" _We will not be silenced!_ " Yoneya screamed, standing up in his seat. "Kick their asses, Four-eyes, Shrimp!"

"You can do it!" Midorikawa followed enthusiastically. "Moriyan! Yuma-senpai! _Fight on_!"

" _I can't see!_ " Satori wailed, trying to look around the taller teen in the row in front of him. "Move out of the way!"

"Since when have you been on good terms with Mikumo, Midorikawa?" Kitora finally huffed, just as Yoneya and Midorikawa sullenly sat down. "I don't recall you having given her a nickname..."

"Oh, we all had a snowball fight!" Midorikawa cheered. "Moriyan, Yoneyan, Izumin and I!"

" _It was fun_ ," Yoneya grinned, closing both his eyes. "I thought she was gonna kill us at first, but we all had a lot of fun. _Shooters_ versus _Attackers_."

" _Ah_ , that does sound fun..." Satori commented. "I wish I was there..."

" _Midorikawa got sick for a day_ ," Tokieda bluntly shot back, causing Satori to droop. "That's why he didn't go to the festival."

" _You always rain on my parade like this.._."

"Guys, _please_ quiet down a little—" Arashiyama finally cut in, wearily glancing around at the slightly irritated B and C-ranks sitting around them. "Don't you guys want to watch the match?"

"Oh, right." Yoneya shot right back up. " _KICK THEIR BUTTS, SHRIMP!_ "

" _You can do it, Moriyan!_ "

Kitora face-palmed.

-0-

Yuma shot off like a bullet towards Murakami, who had reverted his Raygust to dagger-from so he could slice off the strings around him with ease. He lifted his Kogetsu just in time to block the incoming attack from Yuma.

The rubble from the collapsing wall was slowly falling, with the cloud of dust obstructing the parts of my vision that hadn't already taken away by the fog.

 ** _"Yuma, we need to regroup,"_** I muttered into the communicator. **_"Nasu was with you, right? I can't see her anymore!"_**

 ** _"Fine, fine."_**

Yuma tapped the side of his own bagworm, the lengthy fabric slowly disappearing into the air as a second Scorpion formed in his other hand. Murakami's eye immediately caught sight of the blade, as he separated from Yuma before he could even move.

Yuma kicked off of the ground right after, landing in a crouch beside me.

 ** _"Alright captain, what's the game plan?"_**

I circled around so we could be back-to-back, while also warily glanced around the fog. **_"Don't have one yet. As much as I'd like to leave you to fight off Murakami as you wanted, I can't reliably do so with Nasu lurking around."_**

 ** _"Not to mention, Kuruma and Kumagai are also on your side!"_** Shiori reminded helpfully. **_"In fact, I'd bet that Kumagai just met up with Nasu, and that's why they've disappeared."_**

"That's not good." Yuma scowled, although he didn't take his eyes off of Murakami for a second. **_"It was kind of unavoidable, but with the way that I met up with Mori... Nasu and Murakami can easily catch us two between them. And then Kuruma can easily make his way over to Murakami with our attention diverted—"_**

I cut him off with a hasty shove, the two of us barely being missed by a steady round of Asteroid.

"I could _barely_ see that coming!" I yelled out-loud, still scanning the fog. "This fog is _seriously_ messed up!"

 ** _"Well, now we know that Nasu's still around."_** Yuma glanced down the street, eyes still trained on Murakami. The attacker seemed to be waiting patiently for us to wear ourselves down with Nasu, enough that he could get an opening.

 ** _"He's probably counting on you to run out of Trion, Mori,"_** Shiori sighed, tapping a few keys on her keyboard. **_"It's reasonable, considering the hit he got on your shoulder earlier, but I think you have a reasonable amount of Trion that you don't need to worry quite yet."_**

 ** _"Thank god for that."_**

I waited, and waited, and waited.

The tension was killing me, why was Nasu taking her time before shooting at us?

 ** _"Yuma, did you get a good hit on her?"_** I questioned. **_"Like, at all?"_**

 ** _"Cut off a hand. Couldn't do much more or else she would've killed me."_**

I groaned, just as I saw a hazy light through the fog. **_"Here it comes—"_**

Rather than a spray of bullets like I expected though, I was abruptly cut off as a flash of black and white lunged from the right.

Yuma, catching the slight panic on my expression, Grabbed the back of my collar and yanked back—Just in time for a blade to suddenly form and slice both of my hands off.

Kumagai, who had quickly switched off the bagworm she had previously been wearing while also obscured by the fog. She immediately retreated back to Nasu's direction with a confident smirk while Nasu stepped out of the fog herself, both on the opposite side of the street as Murakami.

Murakami, who was now joined by his captain, Kuruma.

Yuma glanced around with narrowed eyes, and I grit my teeth.

' _We're trapped in between them... Shit_.'

Yuma paused, assessing the situation, before speaking out-loud to me.

Probably loud enough for both teams to hear him.

" _Golly_ captain! You _didn't_ see that coming?"

My eye twitched, and I slammed the stump of my forearm into the top of his head.

 ** _"My side-effect hardly matters if my reflexes aren't fast enough to match, you fucking smartass!"_**

-0-

The first movement was key.

The first move, similarly to Tachikawa's prediction, was made by Nasu squad.

But unlike his prediction... it wasn't their squad themselves doing the moving.

They did need bait, after all, they just decided to use someone else for it.

Namely, the closest person to them, Betsuyaku Taichi.

One grasshopper on Natsume's part, and the chaos had officially started.

The plan was simple. Find someone, shoot them out of the building with a Grasshopper, and steal the points JUST before the other team aimed and shot at the 'bait'. Then, they could chase the second person once they'd given away their location.

(Natsume, of course, didn't tell her new squad about Chika's weakness. She didn't feel it was right, and she stands by that.)

Betsuyaku was the closest person, so Natsume snuck up on him, before activating a grasshopper underneath him, among for a nearby window.

Hiura took aim at the startled sniper, and set her finger on the Lightning's trigger in preparation.

( _Chika had been watching though. And her orders were clear. '_ ** _Try to delay any point grabbing, for as long as possible_** _'._ )

One cannon shot, just before everything was reduced to a mess of assorted sniper shots as the snipers rapidly switched hiding spots, searching, and firing at the closest person.

 _And_ screaming. Mostly on Taichi's part though.

-0-

 ** _"Alright alright alright alright."_** I took a deep breath. **_"I have..._ Some _semblance of a plan."_**

 ** _"Oh, goodie,"_** Yuma grinned, loosely twirling both Scorpion in his hands. **_"What is it?"_**

I took another deep breath.

( _If only there was a way to have a Meteora that could move around like a Viper... That would've been_ real _useful right now_.)

 ** _"Well, I know how Nasu was planning on shooting at us."_** I lifted up my forearm, both of our eyes quickly finding the small contraption on the side of my arm. It clung to the fabric stubbornly, and I heaved a heavy sigh. **_"Kumagai shot this at me the exact moment she cut off my arms, so it would be less noticeable."_**

A starmarker stuck to the side of my arm, and didn't seem like it was coming off anytime soon.

 ** _"Ah, nothing gets past my captain, that's probably why she turned off her bagworm."_** Yuma grinned, lifting up a blade. **_"Should I cut it off?"_**

 ** _"Put the sword down, for god's sake."_** My eyes flickered between the two teams, who seemed to make a mutual truce over our heads. They were probably planning on double-teaming us before fighting each other. **_"... If they already know where I am, there's no point in moving. I'll just stay out in the open, the Marker is likely just a last resort if I try running away."_**

He paused, before glancing up at me with eager eyes. **_"... Sounds like you've got even more in mind."_**

 ** _"Maybe, I have no clue how well it'll actually work."_** I tapped my communicator once. ** _"... Shiori, how easy is it to connect both Yuma and I's vision receptors?"_**

-0-

Shiori was having a _ludicrous_ amount of fun with Tamakoma-2.

But this?

 _Oh,_ ** _this took the cake._**

An inhuman grin stretched across her face, and she excitedly tapped at her keyboard.

"Ohoho... Mori, I hope you know what you're doing." She hurriedly connected the two Trion bodies, overlapping their vision systematically to be seen easier. "Because this is going to get disorienting _reeeeeaaaal_ fast. I'll have a _ton_ of fun though."

 ** _"I'll be standing still, so it_ should _be less to deal with for Yuma,"_** Mori commented, although her tone grew weak at the morbid excitement in Shiori's voice. **_"Also, please try not to take too much excitement in our pain."_**

 ** _"What do you mean? I can deal with this no issue."_** Yuma chuckled over the communicator. **_"You're the only one that'll be having difficulties, I hope you can aim properly with two points-of-view."_**

 ** _"_ I hope you suffer in hell. _"_**

Shiori laughed, louder than she'd ever laughed before.

Yeah, she was having a ludicrous amount of fun.

She hoped it never ended.

-0-

"What the fuck."

" _Language_ —" Utagawa paused suddenly, his reprimand falling flat. "... _Are_... Are they doing what I think they're doing?"

"I think they are." Kazama hummed, leaning forward in his chair. "Interesting."

Kikuchihara stared at the screen. " _What the fuck._ "

Mori and Yuma, who were standing beside each other in the middle of the foggy street, swayed dangerously for a few moments before slowly coming to a halt. Just as they finally began to balance themselves again though, Yuma kicked off of the road and launched himself at Murakami with a Scorpion in hand.

Utagawa watched sympathetically as Mori swayed once again, almost drunkenly as she wordlessly screamed something in Yuma's direction. He winced in time just as Kumagai swung her sword down towards the back of Mori's head, who barely threw up a shield in time to block it.

"... Those two sure like to improvise on the spot, hm?" Kazama sipped through the straw of the milk carton. "I'm sure that Shiori is having fun."

" ** _What the fuck_**."

Yuma looped around with a Grasshopper, just in time to throw up another shield over Mori's head to block out the sudden rain of Viper bullets from Nasu. Mori spun around and readied a cube of Asteroid to cover for Murakami's attempt on attacking Yuma from behind.

Utagawa winced, once again, as both Yuma and Mori stumbled in unison. Though Mori's stumble was much more pronounced.

"I don't think that was the _best_ thing to try out in the middle of a match..." Kikuchihara huffed, resting his head down on the table as he slumped down. " _This is gonna be a mess_."

"I think they'll still pull it off though," Kazama smirked lightly.

-0-

 ** _"Damnit Yuma—!"_**

I tried to not spin around too quickly as I shot another round of Asteroid at Murakami.

At least _one of us_ is doing their best to not make things too disorienting for the other.

Yuma however, gave no regard for my visions well being as he leapt off of the ground, jumping over my shield and slicing downwards to attack Kumagai.

She reluctantly lifted up her Kogetsu from its attack on my shield, lifting it up to block Yuma's strike. The force of impact between the two swords shattered the Scorpion on contact.

Yuma reached over with his hand to use my shield as a platform, stabilizing himself with the surface before twisting and kicking his foot towards the side of Kumagai's head.

(— _Mole-claw—_ )

A Scorpion blade shot out of Yuma's foot, barely coming within a few centimetres of Kumagai's head... As a bright luminescent shield formed and protected her from the stab. The sword bounced off of the shield with a loud, jarring noise that made me wince.

Nasu stood a few meters behind her teammate, a hand outstretched towards us to project the shield in Kumagai's direction.

My vision, already split into two points of view into a mash of confusing scenes, shifted.

 ** _"Yuma, for GOD'S SAKE—!"_**

Said teen had kicked off of my shield once again, landing in a crouch beside me as he looped an arm around my waist.

"Wait, _nononon_ ** _onono_ —"**

"Senku... _Kogetsu_!"

Yuma used a Grasshopper to jump away from our previous spot, just as Murakami's Kogetsu sent a large cut down the road. Kumagai didn't manage to lower her sword quick enough to block the cut, which resulted in her hand being split clean off.

We landed a short ways away, but Yuma launched off of the ground once again to avoid the spray of bullets from Kuruma's direction.

 ** _"I'm gonna throw up!"_** I yelled into the communicator, watching my two views of the world move around sporadically. **_"I'm gonna throw up, stop the ride—!"_**

Yuma abruptly dropped me, the two of us now an equal distance away from the two squads as they were from each other. The three of us were now in a makeshift triangle in the middle of the wide street, with Yuma and I closest to a building on the side.

 _At least we weren't trapped between them anymore._

I hurriedly scrambled to my feet, watching my own point of view spin uncontrollably, while Yuma's held still for the first time in the previous few minutes.

 ** _"You ok now, Captain?"_** Yuma teased, quickly brushing off a layer of rain from his shoulders while a thin cloud of Trion leaked from a cut in his arm. **_"You looked_ pretty _sick there for a second."_**

 ** _"Oh, fuck you—"_** I raised my hand to my mouth as my vision spun again. Yuma also swayed uncertainly, although it was much less pronounced. **_"—I thought you would... Give me some time to get used to it..."_**

Now that I had a second to breathe, I could comprehend the two parts of my vision slightly easier. It wasn't like a video game, where it would just split the screen in half for two-player mode, but rather... It was like they were overlapping. I could see through both sets of eyes in the same place, at the same time.

 ** _"Yuma, look left,"_** I politely ordered as my eyes swung to the right. He silently complied, and I groaned as our visions spun. **_"Oh, now that's horrible. Fuck, maybe we should just give up. This was a stupid idea."_**

 ** _"No no, you guys were doing great!"_** Shiori objected excitedly. **_"Didn't you see Yuma swing right back around to shield you from Nasu's shooting? And you shot at Murakami to keep him from attacking Yuma, that's cause you both shared your vision! It made it easier to protect each other's backs!"_**

 ** _"C'mon Mori, are you just gonna half-ass it?"_** He smirked slightly. **_"You should at least stay committed."_**

 ** _"Alright, FINE!"_** I sighed, attempting to drag a hand down my face, before being abruptly reminded of the stump of what once was my arm. **_"We'll keep this up... But if you grab me and start jumping around like a gremlin again, I'll get Shiori to turn it off."_**

 ** _"If I cut it off so suddenly, especially if Yuma's trying to run, it'll just cause more trouble then it's worth."_**

 ** _"_ Fuck _."_**

-0-

 ** _"...Is that allowed?"_**

Mikami sighed, glancing at the screen. **_"It's not like it's against the rules, most people just don't even think about it. My squad is the only squad that's actually been able to successfully pull off shared senses, after all. It's not an easy thing to do, and most just don't see much merit in it."_**

 ** _"Sounds dumb,"_** Kageura huffed. **_"Half the time, you don't even get to meet up with your teammates before you end up needing to fight someone. So depending on a teammate for something like that is_ stupid _."_**

 ** _"The shared points of view can help, sure, but there's not much value in it otherwise since it can be disorienting…"_** Tachikawa rubbed his chin with his thumb and pointing finger. **_"I wonder... There's not that big of a bonus in sharing senses, especially in the middle of a Rank wars match... The only reason Kazama does it is that of Kikuchihara's side effect..."_** Tachikawa suddenly stilled, all movement coming o a halt as his eyes narrowed in thought.

 ** _"What?"_**

 ** _"... Well, it's not that big of a deal, but there's just something that came to mind."_** Tachikawa rocked back in his chair, before pausing and shaking his head. **_"Nah, never mind. S'not important."_**

 ** _"It's when you say something like that, that makes it seem that much more important."_** Kageura let out an aggravated sigh. **_"Whatever, I don't give a fuck."_**

Mikami only sighed tiredly, before turning back to the screen.

Tachikawa laughed.

'.. _. Well, that would explain why Kikuchihara picked Four-eyes of all people to take an interest in. Cool_.'

-0-

The stare down was tense, everyone waiting patiently for someone else to make a move. Mori took a second to assess her surroundings.

The fog has settled somewhat, with everyone being much easier to see now. The fog seemed to reach just the edge of the circle they had formed since everyone was now out in the open to be seen.

The fog had lost some of its effect by now, making the Starmarker Kumagai tagged her with, essentially _useless_. Not that it wasn't already, particularly since Mori had made the decision to stay out in the open while providing cover-fire in the first place.

Mori had both hands cut off from the forearm down, and a slightly deep cut in her shoulder that had stopped leaking Trion a few minutes ago. Yuma had the thin cut on his arm—but other than that, looked none the worse for wear.

Murakami was sporting a few bullet holes in the leg opposite to the side he was holding his Raygust on, presumably from the moment Mori had shot at him to prevent any attacks on Yuma's back. Kuruma behind him, still looked unharmed as he held his gun at the ready.

Kumagai's presumably non-dominant hand had been cut off by Murakami's last attack, and she seemed slightly off balance as she held her sword with her remaining hand. Nasu also had a hand cut off, although it wouldn't affect her much with her status as a shooter.

 ** _"... Hey, Nasu-chan and Kumagai-chan are also missing their hands!"_** Shiori teased. **_"You three can be the 'got a hand cut off' club, Captain!"_**

 ** _"Oh, not you too."_** I groaned, before readying two large cubes of Trion beside me. **_"... I'll deal with Nasu and Kuruma. Yuma, can I trust you to take—?"_**

 ** _"—The attackers?"_** Yuma smirked, lifting up a hand—palm face-up— as he readied himself to kick off. **_"Are we keeping the shared vision?"_**

 ** _"It'll be quicker than warning you if either of them tries to shoot at you. Keep an eye out for that, by the way."_** The bullets in my hands, which I offhandedly regarded as Meteora, blasted off in an instant.

The explosives launched themselves into the concrete around us, spraying dust and chunks of tarmac into the air around us.

Yuma leapt forward, a Grasshopper immediately forming underneath both him, Murakami, and Kumagai—all aiming towards the left side of the street. The fog had kicked up once again, and all three of them were out of ' _my_ ' sight in an instant.

I tried to shove my view of Yuma's fight out of my mind, for now, only half-paying attention to the details I knew I wasn't seeing with my own eyes.

Kuruma, regarding Nasu as the tougher enemy at the moment, aimed his gun at her and fired.

-0-

Kumagai was almost astonishingly easy to take down.

Yuma felt for her, he really did, when she bailed out with that expression of frustration and regret on her face. But he had his own set of orders to be following at the moment.

Regrettably, Murakami gained the point for her Bail-out. It was acceptable, Yuma supposes, as long as he takes out the attacker himself before heading back over to help out Mori.

A clash of blades, the shattering of a Scorpion, dodging the follow-up blow, it was beginning to become something resembling repetitive as Yuma once again dodged a swipe of Murakami's Kogetsu.

( _He could see Nasu attacking Kuruma and Mori with a steady stream of cleverly orchestrated Viper bullets, the former having troubles shielding himself with just one shield._ )

Murakami finally broke the repetition, switching his Raygust to dagger form in an instant, activating the thruster as the blade soared towards Yuma's head far too quickly to be dodged.

Yuma's eyes widened, but he didn't move to equip a shield.

( _On Mori's end, Yuma could faintly register his captain lifting an arm towards Yuma's direction with an Asteroid cube quickly forming. Some quick adjusting—Speed 70%— before releasing the bullets._ )

Murakami looked slightly confused when Yuma readied a Grasshopper behind himself. He could see his thought process clearly, ' _is he really planning on launching himself at the dagger?_ '

The answer to that... Is _no_.

A herd of bullets not only kicked the Raygust straight off of its course, but additionally destroyed Murakami's now unprotected legs. The attacker fell to the floor, just as Yuma launched himself towards him.

' _Aaaannd— That's a wrap._ '

Yuma sliced Murakami's head clean off of the Trion body.

 ** _"Combat body limit exceeded. Bail out."_**

And in the distance, Mori too bailed out. She shouldn't have gotten distracted while fighting a master-class shooter, but at least she helps Yuma get a point.

-0-

Nasu smiled near-unnoticeably, watching a bright light erupt from where Mikumo had been previously standing.

' _I don't know what that was, or why she aimed to the side... But she left herself open_.'

Nasu turned around quickly, already preparing a line of Viper bullets to take down Kuruma, who was surely going to be an easy target without Murakami shielding him, or Mikumo's intercepting shots...

She was cut off by a round of Asteroid bullets landing themselves in her hastily conjured shield, and _then_ —

Hound bullets from all sides— _Above, right, and left_ —left bullet holes clean through Nasu's body before she could even react.

Just as the cracks in her Trion body began to grow and stretch, she threw out a hand and aimed a steady stream of bullets towards the gunner down the street, who above all else, was **_not_** the easy target she thought he'd be.

"... So it seems you lost any trace of hesitation... _After_ _the invasion_ , hm?"

Before she could even form any bullets, she too, bailed out.

 ** _"Combat body limit exceeded. Bail out."_**

-0-

There wasn't much to be done after that. Yuma snuck up behind Kuruma while he was distracted, and the two snipers still surviving on the other side of the river bailed out the moment Yuma was the only one left.

"...Chika, you did well." Yuma staggered, waiting patiently for the Trion world to deconstruct as their victory was announced. "You held on for a decent amount of time... Too bad I couldn't get any more points from that side though."

 ** _"Natsume really has gotten better."_** Chika's voice echoed from over the communicator. **_"She didn't even hesitate while shooting me... I should've been more careful."_**

 ** _"She missed, like, 6 times—"_**

 ** _"She's improved so much, wouldn't you say, Shiori?"_**

 ** _"A-Ah. Right."_**

Yuma laughed quietly, before abruptly realizing something. "Where's Mori? I haven't heard back from her in a while."

 ** _"W-well, Mori... Mori's currently trying not to throw up."_**

"Ah."

-0-

"... Mori-chan's fighting style has completely changed from the invasion, huh?" Izumi sipped on his drink, a small grin forming. "She used to just throw around explosions like it'd solve something _evenetually_ , now she's actually starting to learn support-shooting. I guess she really did learn something from that whole invasion business."

"... Are you kidding me?"

Izumi spun around in his seat, turning to face his companion. " _Aw_ , don't be like that... It was an interesting match. Especially with that ' _shared-senses_ ' thing at the end there."

" _Please_ tell me you're joking," Ninomiya scowled at his pseudo-mentor. "There was _no_ skill in what the shooter did, whatsoever."

"You don't think so?" Izumi hummed, setting his drink down and resting both arms on the chair. "I think she did pretty well."

"There's a clear difference between skill and **_pure luck_**." Ninomiya scoffed. "And that match was _undeniably_ part of the latter."

"... _I_ think Mori's still improving," Izumi decided to avoid breaking out into an argument. Or, as much of an _argument_ as you could have with Ninomiya, anyway. "But what about Amatori-chan? Her Trion levels are above black Trigger levels… She could do other things besides sniping if she wanted—"

"That pint-sized cannon," Ninomiya interrupted sharply. " _Can't_ shoot people. Today's match made it more than obvious, the only ones that can get points are the shooter and the attacker. And the former still relies on the latter's assistance for even _that_."

"... Hey, _Nino_ ," The blond teen hummed, eyes darkening just enough to show his displeasure to the other. "Don't you have anything... **_Positive_** _to say_ , maybe?"

"The _only_ thing about that team that's **_positive_**..." Ninomiya stood up, clearly not backing down. "... Is the attacker himself. The rest of the team is absolute _trash_. There's no semblance of good strategy to be found, and they clearly can't take the situation seriously. The attacker should just give up and find a better A-rank squad to join."

Izumi stayed silent, and Ninomiya took that as his cue to leave. But before he could cross the threshold, a clear voice rang out from behind him.

" _Hey, Ninomiya?_ "

Ninomiya froze.

( _Because for all_ ** _everyone_** _remembered Izumi and Tachikawa's status as No.1's, it was difficult to take them seriously with those_ ** _childish_** _facades in place all the time, and seeing either of them_ ** _truly angry_** _was reserved for the dangerous moments_ ** _few and_** **_far between_ —**)

Izumi put down his cup, the sound echoing within the empty room. Ninomiya resisted the urge to slam the door right then and there.

"... Don't go near Mori, you hear me? She doesn't need someone like you going near her."

The man being addressed was silent for a few more moments. Just before a loud scoff signalled the start of his response.

" ** _I don't follow your orders._** "

And the door shut, as loud and passive-aggressively as someone like Ninomiya could bring himself to do.

Leaving Izumi alone in the room, still glancing down through the window into the lobby area.

The commentating was just beginning to wrap up, with Tachikawa adding a few more final statements before he'd be let go. Tachikawa and Izumi had agreed to go congratulate Tamakoma-2 once they got the chance, so...

'.. _. I should probably start making my way to the lobby... Huh?_ '

-0-

 ** _"Well, Tamakoma-2 steps away with the victory once again."_** Mikami nodded, before facing the other two commentators. **_"Do you two have any thoughts in particular regarding this match?"_**

 ** _"Murakami_ sucked _."_** Kageura scowled, harshly jabbing a thumb downwards. ** _"He should've noticed that the shrimp had something up his sleeve when he didn't try dodging the dagger. Instead, he ended up losing the fucking point to Kuga."_**

 ** _"Well, I'd agree with that for the most part."_** Tachikawa sighed. **_"Murakami didn't really get a chance to shine, which is a shame considering he even had the upper hand on Kuga... Since they had a match against each other the other day, and he got the chance to use his side effect."_** Tachikawa paused, before shooting a cheery thumbs up that greatly contrasted Kageura's stormy expression. **_"Well, on the other hand, great teamwork on Tamakoma-2's part! Though it did end up getting Mikumo killed in the end, she managed to cover for Yuma even from that distance due to the shared sight. It was the better choice in the end though, since Yuma managed to take down Murakami with her help, and also managed to steal a point with Kuruma at the end."_**

 ** _"Murakami would've curb-stomped the rest of them if he managed to kill the shrimp at that point."_** Kageura angrily pointed out ( _Though he looks angry all the time, so it's hard to tell if it's just his neutral expression or not.._.) **_"Suzunari's captain—"_**

 ** _"Kuruma,"_** Mikami helpfully pointed out.

 ** _"—The bitch-baby,"_** Kageura continued, unperturbed. ** _"Pulled off that last point at the end, taking down Nasu before she could even react. It was a pretty good move, considering the guy's only ever been cover fire for Murakami up 'till this point. Guess fighting in the invasion helped him grow a spine."_**

Mikami gave Kageura a dirty look for the name-calling, but didn't call him out. **_"… And opinions on Nasu squad?"_**

 ** _"Ah well..."_** Tachikawa hummed. **_"It's hard to tell just how far the fourth member affected their general team's fighting-style since the team was split in half for this round. But their two snipers had fairly solid teamwork, and the fourth member even managed to get a point for the first time from Amatori."_**

 ** _"Considering Natsume's status as a C-rank up until a few weeks ago, I think she performed admirably."_** Mikami played back a scene on the screen of Natsume aiming and firing at Taichi, just barely knocking him off balance for Hiura to snipe. **_"They played into their strengths and weaknesses, with Hiura having relatively better aim than Natsume, so using the latter's semi-accurate shots to limit the opponents' movements was a good choice."_**

 ** _"And the cannon..."_** Kageura jabbed a finger at the screen, the scene now showing several Ibis-shots being used to mess up everyone else's aim. **_"... She didn't really try to get any fucking points, but the cannon-fire was making it pretty damn troublesome to aim and get points properly. If she wasn't taken out when she was, I think she could've kept the rest of Nasu-squad from bailing out—"_**

 ** _"—So Kuga could head over the bridge to get the points."_** Tachikawa finished. ** _"Taichi didn't do much this round… But he was put in a hard spot from the very beginning, when he was first spotted by Natsume and Hiura. I think this match will be a good thing to learn and grow from for Suzunari-1. Things are finally beginning to change for them ever since the invasion."_**

 ** _"All three teams made strategic choices, so it's relatively difficult to determine whether someone's loss was due to someone's inadequate ability, or a wrong strategic decision somewhere."_** Mikami hummed and nodded, turning off the large screen at the front of the room. **_"And final thoughts on Tamakoma-2?"_**

Tachikawa was silent, before he added his final input.

 ** _"... Though the shared sight did help in the end, I really think they shouldn't have tried it. It was pretty risky."_**

 ** _"—Almost to the point of being stupid."_** Kageura continued with a grumble.

-0-

"Do you hear that, captain?" Yuma cheerily asked me, crouched beside the mattress. "It was risky, almost to the point of being stupid!"

" _A-alright, first of all_ —" I leaned over the side of the mattress, trying to fight off my nausea as I slowly got used to my vision returning to normal. "— _You two were the ones that insisted on committing,_ so shut the f-fuck up _._ "

"We didn't really give her a choice," Shiori sympathetically agreed, reaching over to rub my back. "We thought it'd work out in the end—"

"—And it did!" Yuma gave a laid-back thumbs up. "You really saved my ass at the end there."

"Language," Chika scolded in my place.

I don't think any of us were listening to the commentary at this point, since my entire team was gathered around the mattress I was currently lying on.

"Second of all..." I prepared myself, before sitting up slowly as to not get dizzy again. "... That was the coolest thing I've ever done, in my entire life. We need to do that again."

"Not today though, even when we get back to the branch." Shiori's eyes narrowed into a light glare. "Or else I'll lock you two out of the training room at Tamakoma—"

"Is right now a bad time?"

I twisted my head slowly, a little too slow to see the people at the door before any of my teammates did.

"Yosuke, Midorikawa," Yuma waved with a grin. "How'd I do?"

"You were _badass_!" Midorikawa cheered, stepping into the operator room so that they could see Arashiyama squad behind the two teens. "You two took out Murakami! That's so _COOL_ —!"

"— ** _Stop blocking the door!_** " Kitora finally burst out, shoving Yoneya into the room so that her team could enter.

Once she was safely within the room, she stepped slightly in my direction before hesitantly waving.

"You... _You did well_ , I suppose. You both have good teamwork."

I smiled at her, nausea quickly fading once I had sat up. "Ah, thank you! That means a lot, coming from you..."

Yuma hummed in approval at our interaction, evidently seeing no reason to interfere... ( _Unlike previous encounters_ ). He instead turned to Arashiyama and Tokieda with a raised hand. "Were you guys watching from the lobby?"

"Mhm," Tokieda nodded, high-fiving the white-haired teen. "Quite a match."

"And you didn't blow up any buildings this time!" Satori teased.

"Though what you did instead was _just_ as flashy." Arashiyama nervously laughed. "You guys are big on taking risks, aren't you?"

" _I like living life on the edge_ ," Yuma jokingly stated, resting his chin between his thumb and pointing finger.

"... Speaking of which, you _still_ haven't given me that match I asked about." Yoneya pat Yuma on the top of the head. "When're we gonna get around to that, huh?"

" _Probably never_."

I snickered at their conversation, before falling back to lean back on the mattress again. Chika sat beside me, and pat me on the shoulder lightly.

"Sister, are you feeling alright?"

I nodded a little tiredly, closing my eyes. "I'm still a little dizzy, but I'll live."

"Oh, _Izumin_! Tachikawa-san!"

I opened one eye, watching Midorikawa peek his head out the door and frantically wave at who I assume to be the aforementioned people.

A few seconds later, we had two more additions to the steadily growing crowd in our operator room. "Yo, Mori-chan! Shrimp, Amatori-chan!"

"Hey, _kiddos_."

Shiori snorted, pointing teasingly at the latter. "Tachikawa-san, you sound like an old man."

"What?!" His mouth opened in shock. "I do?! Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"I just did."

"I swear I didn't sound like an old man…"

"It's probably just the way you said ' _kiddos_ '."

"Yeah, that's probably it."

"Izumin?" Midorikawa tilted his head curiously. "I thought you were with _Ninomiya_...?"

Izumi shrugged, easy-going grin not wavering. "He's been kind of _prickly_ near Tachikawa and I, probably since captain got off with such a _light_ punishment from the invasion. He's just sulking."

"Somehow, with someone like Ninomiya, I get the feeling that it's not just ' _sulking_ '…" Yoneya shrugged, before tossing an arm over his friend's shoulder. "Meh, _whatever_. He can be a prick if he wants to."

"Calling him a ' _prick_ ' is a bit much, don't you think...?" Satori asked slightly nervously. "I swear, that guy has a sixth sense for when someone's badmouthing him. It's the worst."

"Now Satori, the only reason you'd know about that is if you've badmouthed him yourself!" Izumi sang, causing Satori to rapidly pale.

"Still, congrats on the win." Tachikawa stepped over to ruffle my hair. It kind of messed up the ponytail it was in, but I only grinned. "You did good, I'm looking forward to your next match."

"Wait, did they announce what teams we're fighting against next?" Shiori asked with a raised eyebrow. "We weren't listening."

Chika smiled innocently. "Sister was too nauseous from the shared-sight, and we were making sure she wouldn't puke."

I groaned at the reminder, just as Arashiyama cleared his throat.

"Well, you guys have a whole week to prepare this time." Arashiyama paused, before sending both Chika and Shiori a bright, reassuring smile. "Next Saturday, you guys are up against the upper bracket... They still have some matches today, so nothing's finalized quite yet."

Yuma nodded along, before grabbing Mori's hand and pulling her off the mattress. "We can talk about the results tomorrow, right? _Ok then_ , I've got somewhere to be."

"Wait, _why are you dragging me along with you_ —"

That was all she managed to get out before Yuma dragged his poor captain out the door.

…

 _"... Do you think we should stop him?"_

 _"I think I saw him texting Rindou-san... I'm sure they'll be fine...?"_

 _"You sound_ ** _very_** _uncertain about that, Shiori-san."_

-0-

"Over here, over here~"

"Yuma, are you up to something shady again—?"

Said teen swung his head up from where he was, mock-indignant expression sealed properly in place. "Me? _Shady_? How dare you Mori, I would _never_!"

"It's when you stay stuff like that, that makes me all the more suspicious..." Mori huffed, before slumping in resignation. "Whatever. Drag me wherever the fuck you want."

"Aw, I'm so glad you're resigned to spending time with me!" Yuma cheered in a tone that was far too sing-songy to be genuine. " _Unfortunately_ , we've reached our destination, so I'll be dropping you off here."

Mori blinked, watching the teen that had been dragging her along suddenly come to a halt. "What? Where—"

Yuma threw open a nearby door, before shoving his captain into the dark room without a word.

Mori cursed as she stumbled over the threshold, only regaining her balance just as Yuma slammed the door behind her.

She pounded on the door, confusion multiplying rapidly as she fumbled with the locked doorknob. "Yuma, what the _fuck_ is this?"

Yuma audibly gulped on the other side of the door, but regained his confidence quickly. "I got some help from Rindou to pull this off! Pretty fancy, eh? It's an electric lock, so he can unlock it whenever he wants from his phone... _Whatever that means_. Why does Meeden have such complicated devices?"

"Border's got some pretty modern tech, so it was no biggie." Rindou stepped around a nearby corner, evidently having been hiding there until the glasses-wearing captain was locked inside the nearby room. "You've got your phone, so just call Yuma when you two are ready to stop acting like angsty teens."

" _Is this your idea of a prank, Rindou-san_?" Mori's voice was sickly sweet. "I'm really tired and stressed after that match, and I was _planning_ on heading back to the branch office to lie down and do nothing for the rest of the day. Don't you think that'd be a good plan? **_Let me out._** "

" _No can do_!" Rindou backed away from the door cheerily, Yuma following behind not soon after. "Call Yuma to open the door—since he can tell if you're lying or not—and head back to the office when you're ready!"

Mori could hear their rapidly fading footsteps as they walked down the hall casually. Mori was tempted to slam her fists on the door again but figured that anyone that comes around _wouldn't_ have the authorization to open the door anyway... And she certainly didn't want anyone find out she had been trapped in a goddamn empty meeting room from a _prank-gone-wrong_.

' _No, this isn't a prank gone wrong. Who the fuck knows what they wanted out of this, but this is apparently_ ** _all_** _according to their plan._ '

"Oh, for _fuck's_ sake—" Mori rattled the door-knob one more time, before sighing in aggravation. "There goes my good mood. _And what did they mean by_ —?"

"... **_Mikumo_** _?_ "

Mori froze.

She couldn't even muster enough strength to turn her head around, all courage leaving her to fend for herself as the voice registered in her mind.

'...'

'.. _. Jin...?_ '


	16. In Pieces

_**A/N -**_

 _ **Any reviews from last week have warmed my frozen heart. I cant say anything more about it without it delving into a full blown paragraph of incoherent screaming, so I'll shelve that real quick to never be seen again.**_

 _ **On a another note, I basically tossed angst, headcanons, hurt/comfort, more angst, and possibly-crappy characterization in a blender and made a fuckin smoothie, have fun and tell me how it tastes (I have no clue if this is ooc or not I'm crying) Also**_ _ **Artist!Hyuse is my headcanon that I love undeniably but have never really gotten a chance to talk about, I refuse to leave it out of this fic.**_

 _ **Please leave a comment telling me how I did because heck, I'm really not sure if this is REALLY bad or half-way to relatively decent.**_

 _ **There's another A/N at the end, but it's relatively off-topic and probably better to read once you're done, so I'll talk there.**_

-0-

I would rather be _literally_ anywhere but here right now.

"… Jin." My voice came out steadier than I thought it would.

(— _I'm not ready for this I'm not ready for this I thought I was I'm so sorry—_ )

"Did they lock you in here too?" He weakly laughed. "Rindou-san tricked me into walking in here, _ha_ … I wasn't paying attention all that much."

" _You_ didn't notice? That… Seems out of character. _For you_ , I mean."

"Hm, maybe…" I could hear the smile, somehow. He had always managed to put on a smile even when he couldn't bear to keep it sincere.

Just another thing to add to the list of ' _things Miwa probably doesn't like about Jin_ '.

He paused, before I heard something rustle as if he had shifted slightly. "So how's life been for you lately?"

" _Fine_ ," The response was terser than I intended it to be. "I had the past two Rank wars matches, you probably saw them anyhow."

"I wonder." His words were accompanied by a clipped laugh. "... How was the festival?"

"A lot of people were there. Everyone had fun too, Shiori even got to see her old squad. You should've come."

He hummed. "Sorry, I got distracted by something else. Once I had _finally_ noticed the time, it was far too late to head out."

I couldn't stop the remark before it slipped through my lips. "Again, seems out of character for you. _Jin_."

"My head has been up in the clouds a lot lately." He excused, somewhat carelessly. "Did you know Mikami-san was originally going to ask me to help her with the commentary today? I thought I'd zone out anyways though, so I ended up skipping out."

"… _Is t-that it…_?" My voice wavered that time.

But it was easier for the both of us to just pretend we didn't notice anything, so that's what he did.

(— _That's all its been for the past few weeks. Just pretend there's nothing wrong, pretend nothing's happened, pretend I wasn't a_ ** _complete_** _and_ ** _utter fool_** _at that time—_ )

"Accepting for the next time they ask, is still a possibility though," Jin slumped down to sit on one of the meeting room chairs. "Maybe I can finally get my act back together by then."

"… _Yeah_." I paused, undeniably frustrated, but also somehow resigned. "… That's all. Just gotta… _Get your act together_. That's all you need…"

I was slowly turning, turning— _turning_ … Until I could finally face his direction. Until I could finally… See his expression.

He was slumped down in the chair, hands folded together between his bent knees.

… _And he wasn't even looking in my direction_.

(— _Is that so different from what I've been doing? After all, I haven't even bothered trying to talk to him, haven't even tried thinking about him. Is that why I'm lost for words right now?—_ )

"Yeah." Jin took a deep breath. "… _Just need to get my act together_."

(— _Maybe I'll never be ready. Maybe that's why Yuma and Rindou-san thought it'd be best to force me into this right now._ )

I couldn't help but slam my closed fist against the meeting table, the loud ' _thud_ ' jarring us both out of the false-nonchalant air.

(… _I can't help but selfishly disagree with that plan._ )

-0-

Jin didn't flinch, but he was undeniably tense when Mori didn't move her hand from its spot.

Still clenched into a fist, still flat against the edge of the table and _still_ in front of Jin.

He still didn't look up though.

" _Is that really all it is?_ " Mori's voice was flat. It didn't shake as it did before, but there was an undertone that gave away how shaky she was. "An _act_. That's how much all of this matters to you."

"Four-eyes—"

" _Answer me_ , Jin!" Jin was suddenly very glad that the meeting rooms are, for the most part, relatively soundproof. "Did you even give a _shit_ when you told me to ' _be careful_ '? Or were you just _obligated_ to at least warn me before _letting me run off to my_ ** _death_**?!"

She raised her hand, before slamming it down once again. "You've looked into the future many times before, _I know that_! I—I know that you're smart, that's one of the reasons why I _respected_ you so much, despite how **_goddamn_** _frustrating_ your attitude is! _You_ _knew_ —"

Her voice cracked. It was painful, and the sound reminded Jin of more painful memories from years ago when he had lost nearly everything he had ever cared about.

( _"… Mo… gami-san...?"_ )

"—You _knew_ I wouldn't run away from what you foretold!" She raised her fist for the last time—but that's all it was. The _last_ time, as she faltered from swinging it down again.

Her shaking hand returned to her side instead.

"You knew I wouldn't take it _seriously_ —that I wouldn't _listen_ , _so_ **_why'd_** _you let me go_?!"

Jin's eyes widened in shock as a shuddering sob echoed in the dark room. But he didn't dare lift his head up.

" _Did I really_ —Do I _really_ mean **_that little_** to you?!"

Jin's arms lashed out, both hands gripping Mori's shoulders tightly.

Because if he didn't say anything now, this would never get better between them. Even if there's was no way out of the room, she would flinch away, and break and shatter while her resolve falls to the floor in a million pieces and Jin may never find another way to fix this break between them—

"Four— _Mikumo, please_." And Jin's voice was breaking too, because _how dare she say he didn't care, he could never bring himself to stop caring and that's the reason he nearly broke when Mogami left so long ago_ — " _You_ ** _can't_** _say that—You_ ** _don't_** —"

"Why can't I say it?!" Mikumo snaps, and at that point, so does Jin. "Why can't I say it when that's _all that I can see_?! Because you haven't even looked at me! Even now, you can't even bring yourself to _look_ in my fucking direction!"

Jin wanted to refute that so badly, but he knew he couldn't. Because he was still stubbornly keeping his eyes trained on the ground, where he couldn't see a damn thing.

( _I don't want to look again, I just want these peaceful days to go on forever, I don't want to look and see all of the horrible tragedy that might come to pass, I don't want to face it—_ )

"I don't want to look at you, it's true." He admitted thinly. "But _why_ would you accuse me of not caring? _It's not that_ —"

" ** _It's because you never came!_** "

Mori didn't want to yell it, but the words came out anyway.

( _She didn't want to hear the truth behind what happened. She was scared she wouldn't like it._ )

And the teen took a deep, shuddering breath in, and all Jin could feel under his fingertips was her shoulders shaking with the effort.

"… _You never came_." It was so jarring from the loud, thunderous yells that came from her before. Now she sounded like the kid she was, broken and sad and lonely and confused. "When I was _bleeding_ in that alleyway, when Miwa and I were waiting for either _help_ or _death_ to arrive…"

An exhale that turned into a half-sob on it's way out. Jin never wanted to hear that broken sound again.

( _It was incredibly easy to forget one's age in Border, where everyone there were simply allies on the battlefield. It was easy to forget that some of them were still young, and still relying on their elders for guidance_.)

( _Jin might've been like that once. But he was forced to grow up_ far _too soon, and he would never wish that upon anyone else he was acquainted with_.)

" _You_ … _Y-you_ , the only person that knew without a doubt that all of t-that would happen… _Why didn't you come for me_? Why didn't you come for _us_?!"

Jin needed to stop that thought process because he could see _exactly_ where she was going with this. And for as much as the truth was ugly, what she was currently imagining was worse.

"It's because _I_ wasn't the one you needed."

( _The truth is always harsh. It's not always what you want to hear, but it's something you need to hear to even begin healing. Otherwise… You're just playing pretend_.)

"I wasn't the one you _needed_. I wasn't the one Miwa _needed_ either." And it hurt Jin to admit that. Because it was all anymore ever wanted, to be the one someone needed. "What Miwa needed was a friend, _a teammate_. He needed Yoneya."

And revealing the careful house of cards he had created so everything would turn out to be the acceptable outcome he always aimed for… Well, Jin had never done that before. He always kept the cards close to his chest, revealing only small glimpses to even some of his most trusted friends.

"That's why I let Yoneya, Izumi and Midorikawa go over there without a fight. That's why I advised HQ to give the Fujin to Miwa. So that they'd be over there at that time. That's why I let Izumi get captured for that short time, so Tachikawa could be there to help you guys too. That's why I held back that Neighbour even though Yuma could've probably taken on both of them, so that he could finish off the one enemy he had and go over there. I made sure as many people were over there that there could possibly be. _That's_ _why_ I did everything I could to make sure you guys would get what you needed to survive, _don't you get it?_ "

Mori sobbed again.

She'd never cried this much in front of anyone else, even when she was stuck picking up the broken pieces of her life in the wake of Rinji's absence.

Though she was filled with far too much anger at the time to even entertain the idea of breaking down like this.

"So I… _I can't accept you saying that I_ ** _never cared_**. That I still don't care. _I just can't accept that._ "

The burning in Jin's eyes is starting to get difficult to push back and ignore. He distracted himself by closing them softly, the inky blackness quickly overtaking his vision.

" _I don't want to look at you_ … Because I _don't_ want to use my side effect for now." He chuckled, but it was hollow and empty as Mori sunk to the floor. He followed soon after, slipping off of the chair to kneel down on the ground with her. "It's almost a habit by now, using my side effect to find out what topics to avoid, what to do so I can keep things going my way. So I can either avoid infuriating someone, or rile them up _just cause_."

His eyes stayed shut, even as he brought Mori closer to rest his arms around her comfortingly.

"But I guess I was being a coward this time… I didn't want to look at you." The thought had tormented painfully him for the past week, like a nail being driven into the side of his head. "I didn't want to admit that you didn't need me, and I didn't want to confront the issue. so I avoided you, and I avoided looking into your future… I'm sorry."

He kept silent after that. After all, it was everything he could say at this point, all he could do was face the truth for what it was. And here was to hoping Mori could too.

After what felt like several minutes of quiet, the younger teen finally nodded shakily.

"…I-I'm sorry too— _I… I just_ … Kept thinking that you would…" She hiccuped, though the noise was muffled by her sleeve, she was obviously trying to gain some self-control. "… _I didn't want to know if you really d-did hate me_. I was scared."

"It's fine." Jin nodded. "I should've told you. Sooner, I mean."

"It's not always _your_ responsibility to take care of our messes, Jin-san." She laughed wearily. "We should've just talked this out earlier… _And_ I shouldn't have started yelling at you."

"I should've explained why I was avoiding you," Jin admitted weakly. "I guess I really am a good for nothing senpai without my side effect, huh?"

"Damn _right_ you are." Mori wiped her tears on her sleeve, pulling off her glasses quickly. Jin took them from her helpfully as she brought up both hands to her face. "… I can't call Yuma like this, I both look _and_ sound like I've been crying."

"Maybe we can wait for a little," Jin suggested, before shuffling a little away from her and reaching into his pocket. "… I got something for you while you were… Still in a coma. It was supposed to be an apology gift—"

"Bribery, you mean," Mori joked weakly.

"— _Whatever you want to call it_." Jin laughed quietly. "Here you go."

It was a small glasses case. Sleek, black, with a small blue stripe down the middle, but slightly off centre.

Mori popped open the case and promptly snorted, although the sound was slightly watery. Though she still sounded slightly teary, she was getting better.

"Prescribed sunglasses?" Mori lifted the tinted frames from the box, bringing them up to her eyes to look through. " _Really_?"

Jin's chuckles echoed in the room as Mori inspected the glasses.

The prescriptions were perfect, but Mori knew better than to ask Jin how he knew them.

"… Should I call Yuma now?" Jin asked, cautious in breaking the silence.

Mori glanced up just to double-check his expression, but her eyes shot back down to the ground in an instant as a small smile began to form.

At least Jin had gone back to normal. He wasn't spacing out and glancing away from her anymore.

"… Sure." Mori reached into her pocket and offered Jin her phone. He took it from her gratefully, and she resumed inspecting the sunglasses as he dialled Yuma's number.

The frames were black, and the lenses were tinted a dark blue.

' _They look… Cool_.'

"Hello?" Jin smiled lightly, the atmosphere around them clouded with relief.

 ** _"Jin? … You have Mori's phone, so…?"_**

"Yup, we're better now."

He paused before a hint of mock-indignation entered his voice. "Though you didn't need to lock us in a room to get it done. Over excessive much?"  
 ** _  
"If you were_** **_paying attention, you'd know what we were planning before we even thought of it."_** Yuma chuckled over the line. **_"Goes to show how much you were out of it."_**

"Ha, _ha_." Jin laughed with playful sarcasm. "Now open up the door for us, we've gotta get back before it gets too late. You even invited Kasumi-san over to the office, aren't you gonna let us go home now?"

 ** _"Damn, he really is back to normal,"_** Yuma's voice faded slightly as if he had pulled away from the phone to speak to someone else. **_"Alright Rindou, you can open the door now."_**

A faint click echoed from the entrance, and Mori chuckled quietly. Her voice was hoarse, and Yuma immediately heard it over the sound of Jin getting to his feet.

 ** _"Jin, can you hand the phone to Mori for a sec?"_** Jin glanced down at the phone, before muttering an affirmative and handing over the phone.

As soon as the receiver was in her grasp, he stepped away and towards the door as if to give them some privacy. Mori nodded gratefully, just before lifting the device to her ear.

" _Yuma_ …?" She coughed. "What do you need?"

There was a short pause as if Yuma were just taking in Mori's voice, registering the sound, before answering.

 ** _"… You sound like you were crying."_** Yuma commented. **_"Or yelling. Do I need to murder Jin when he gets back?"_**

"That'd be counterproductive, you guys _just_ forced us to make up." Mori laughed. On the other end, Yuma grinned lightly at the sound of the giggles. "Besides, it was mostly my fault. I was going around blaming everyone else for something that was my fault."

 ** _"That's probably not the whole story, but whatever. I'll accept that."_** Yuma's smile stretched wider. **_"… I'm glad you're feeling better, Mori."_**

"Thanks, Yuma… _Now_ , what was that Jin said about you guys inviting my mom over?"

 ** _"Haha, we can't get anything past you."_** There was a quiet rustle of fabric. **_"Kasumi-san offered to come over and help us make dinner for today since we needed to get her approval for the plan first. She said she's making your favourite food."_**

"You guys got my mom's approval before you even got my own?" Mori laughed again. "Betrayed by my own family, my own _best_ friend. _The humanity_."

 ** _"Well, if we asked you, you would've never agreed!"_** Mori silently agreed with the statement, but only lowered the phone.

"I'll see you later, Yuma." Although she gave out an exasperated sigh, a small smile painted her features.

Before he could get a word out, Mori ended the call.

-0-

Dinner was great. Mom and Jin teased me a bit for my lack of social skills ( _although the latter is certainly one to talk_ ), and nearly everyone let out a loud sigh of relief while watching Jin and I walk through the door side-by-side, and not glaring daggers at each other.

Karasuma, in particular, pat me on the head for successfully making up. Chika apologized frantically for leaving the two of us in the locked room, and Shiori gave a small apology with a sheepish chuckle.

Yuma only laughed. I gave him a noogie for that, but it didn't bother him much. In fact, I think it only made him laugh harder.

By the time the pseudo-party was over, mom was given a guest room, and most of us were staying over at the office. I was sharing a room with Yuma _since neither of us sleep very much if at all_ , but he was out on the room at the moment.

With a heavy ' _thud_ ' as my body came in contact with the comforter, I heaved a sigh as I thought my day came to an end. My vision of the world slowly disappeared at the edges as my eyelids slid shut, and I prepared to embrace the world of sleep.

My eyes stayed shut for a total of twenty seconds before my phone emitted a loud ringing noise.

I picked up the offending object off the bedside table with a groan.

-0-

 ** _[This number is not saved in your contacts list. Mark as spam?]_**

[Unknown Number] : Hello~ Congrats on your win, Mikumo-chan~!

[Unknown Number] : Y'know, I still haven't repaid you for that orange soda! Maybe meet me tomorrow and we can spar for a bit?

 **Four-eyed weirdo : …inukai? How the fuck did you get my number**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : PS how do you sound so menacing, not only through text, but also with a seemingly friendly invite like that. It's scary**

[Unknown Number] : I asked Kunichika-chan for your number since I figured she'd have it.

 **Four-eyed weirdo : PSS you didn't seem like the type that would text in perfect punctuation. Frankly, it's terrifying. You get scarier every time you interact with me**

[Unknown Number] : … Mikumo-chan, I think you need to rethink your priorities.

[Unknown Number] : Though I'll take it as a compliment…

 **Four-eyed weirdo : …I get the feeling that if I delete your number, you'll just end up texting me again.**

[Unknown Number] : Maybe~ You never know.

 **Four-eyed weirdo : Though I also wouldn't be surprised if you went away politely if I asked you too**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : Stop being such a goddamn unpredictable character**

[Unknown Number] : Why are you describing me as If I'm a particularly annoying video game NPC. Lol.

 **Four-eyed weirdo : the 'lol' coupled with the perfect grammar is honestly scary. God.**

[Unknown Number] : Anyway, is that a yes to the initial question? Ninomiya-san's been very grumpy lately… And as much as I like to hang out with Tsuji-chan, he's too polite to tell me if he wants some time alone, so I'll give him some time to breathe.

[Unknown Number] : Hello? Leaving me hanging?

 **Four-eyed weirdo : Ninomiya again. That guy. Who is he.**

[Unknown Number] : Hm?

 **Four-eyed weirdo : I've heard about that guy way too many times lately to be ignored. who tf is he.**

[Unknown Number] : Ninomiya's my captain. We're the B-rank number 1.

 **Four-eyed weirdo : uH-**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : ….You're kidding me, right?**

[Unknown Number] : You're not really keeping track of your B-rank competition, are you? Haha.

[Unknown Number] : After all, we're your next opponents.

 **Four-eyed weirdo :**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : I**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : I think I'll need take you up on that initial offer. When did you wanna meet?**

[Unknown Number] : So polite! Also, tomorrow afternoon is good if it's fine with you.

 **Four-eyed weirdo : who's the polite one here?**

 ** _[You have saved this number as 'Cloud buddy']_**

-0-

 _ **Quick A/N That I can literally not put anywhere else- 'Cloud buddy' is a pun off of their names, since 'Sumiharu' apparently has some sort of character for 'cloud' in it, along with 'Mikumo' which has 'kumo', which is also 'cloud'. Again, sorry for the interruption, I just wanted to explain it quickly.**_

-0-

Mori huffed, sitting up properly and setting down her glasses on the bedside table to replace the phone's place. She shifted and turned until her back was against the backboard of the bed.

-0-

 **Four-eyed weirdo : Alright i saved your number**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : So that I don't get freaked out if you try texting me again**

Cloud buddy : Ooh, what'd you put my name under?

Cloud buddy : I kinda hope it's not something insulting, like "annoying" or something of the sort.

Cloud buddy : I kind of get that I didn't make the best first impression, and I... Apologize?

 **Four-eyed weirdo : Don't worry about it, i get it**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : sides, its just a weird and obscure pun. Anyways, whats this about you being our next opponents?**

Cloud buddy : Oh, you really don't keep up with the news. They posted the next Rank wars matches this evening once they finished all of the matches for the day!

 **Four-eyed weirdo : Oh… My friends locked me in a room, and then we partied long enough to exhaust all of my social energy so I was too tired to even bother checking**

Cloud buddy : wH

Cloud buddy : what

 **Four-eyed weirdo : ….N…nothing…. Continue….**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : Also hHA, your perfect grammar dropped**

Cloud buddy : … I'll just pretend that I never read that!

Cloud buddy : Anyways, the matchings for next… Saturday? Go as Kageura squad vs. Ninomiya squad vs. Azuma squad vs. Tamakoma-2 squad!

 **Four-eyed weirdo : you type so goddamn quickly**

Cloud buddy : I was looking out for my squad name, but imagine my surprise when we're not only with you guys but Kageura as well! Big shocker.

 **Four-eyed weirdo : you know Kageura too?**

Cloud buddy : … Alright, just a quick head's up-

Cloud buddy : -Everyone in Border knows EVERYONE IN BORDER. Mikado's a pretty tight-knit town as it is, with half the population bailing as soon as the Neighbours came around. It's a WONDER you've never met any of us just going about your old, completely normal day-to-day life.

 **Four-eyed weirdo : i was pretty much a loner for my entire life so i didn't get out of the house much**

Cloud buddy : Ah. Sorry.

 **Four-eyed weirdo : and that only got worse after Rinji left… so yeah.**

Cloud buddy : Rinji?

Cloud buddy : Oh right, Rinji Amatori. Speaking of which, is that guy related to Amatori "cannon" -chan, by any chance?

 **Four-eyed weirdo : When you type the honorific like that it just looks plain weird**

Cloud buddy : Are you ever going to stop commenting on my texting habits?

 **Four-eyed weirdo : never ever, bitch**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : and yes, they are related. Why'd you show up to his "funeral" if you don't even know him?**

Cloud buddy : He was under suspicion for something

 **Four-eyed weirdo : …you dropped the punctuation again. I've only seen your texts for a few minutes, and i already know how bad that is.**

Cloud buddy : … Ah, whoops.

 **Four-eyed weirdo : what the fuck did Rinji DO?**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : …If youre allowed to tell me, please and thank you.**

Cloud buddy : … It's mostly kept under wraps since it was a bit of an issue, but I'll tell you in case you know something about it and can offer some help

Cloud buddy : Besides, I don't really like the idea of keeping information hidden from anyone ALREADY involved... I would've told Ema-kun too if Ninomiya hadn't forbidden THAT little bit in particular

Cloud buddy : The guy was under suspicion of being involved in a… "trading" of sorts with our team's former sniper

Cloud buddy : They think she took some Triggers and traded them with him and a few other people, before all going beyond the gates and into the Neighbourhood

 **Four-eyed weirdo :**

Cloud buddy : ...Do you know anything about that?

 **Four-eyed weirdo : ...I might**

Cloud buddy : Any chance you could possibly share

 **Four-eyed weirdo : can I tell you tomorrow? It's kind of a mess, and I don't want to forget anything or have something end up mistranslated through text**

Cloud buddy : Sure sure, no problem. The case has gone cold for a few months anyway, so I can wait for a few days if that's what you need.

Cloud buddy : This whole thing is kind of a sensitive subject, even for me. Ninomiya doesn't like talking about it other than for discussing investigation, while Tsuji-chan and Hiyami-chan usually just stay away from the topic…

Cloud buddy : Besides, I'm not the one handling the investigations anyways. Captain insisted on taking that burden, and he rarely lets us near it unless he's made decent enough progress to share.

 **Four-eyed weirdo : …Thanks, Inukai**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : -senpai**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : ….I can't believe you infected me with your "typing out honorifics" disease**

Cloud buddy : Wait, I get to be called "-senpai"?! I'm flattered!

 **Four-eyed weirdo : Well I mean, you ARE 3 years older than me**

Cloud buddy : Geh, you make me sounds old!

 **Four-eyed weirdo : please I am begging you don't type out the sound effects in perfect grammar, it's incredibly weird to read**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : also HOW is 18 considered OLD to you**

Cloud buddy : In Border, where nearly all the agents are from 13 to 25 —Fuyushima-san being the exception— 18 really does feel old.

 **Four-eyed weirdo : …**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : Valid point.**

Cloud buddy : See?

Cloud buddy : Change of topic, which one do you like more, dogs or cats?

-0-

Mori blinked blearily, before typing out a hesitant ' _cats?_ ' out into the text box.

If she knew just how many dog video compilations that answer would bring, she might just retract her statement.

…

On second thought, It might not have mattered either way what she answered with.

(… _On the other hand, at least the dogs were pretty cute._ )

-0-

...

...

...

Unexpectedly, Mori woke up first.

 _Especially_ unexpected, considering she was up fairly late into the night while being texted by Inukai. And just— Mori not being a morning person, but whatever.

"Oh, good morning." Yuma waved, currently shovelling eggs and bacon into his mouth as he waved to the new arrivals. " _Welcome_."

"Morning," Rindou greeted soon after, lifting his cup of coffee to his mouth.

"... _Morning_?" Karasuma looked slightly confused but ended up sitting on the couch without a word.

Shiori on the other hand, wasn't so silent about her befuddlement. "Yuma, where'd you get the breakfast? I know Rindou-san didn't make it for you..."

Rindou frowned in mock-sadness in the background, sullen at the reminder of his _less-than-stellar_ cooking.

"Mori woke up earlier." Yuma hummed, picking up his cup of orange juice and swirling around the beverage. "She's showering right now, but she'll eat when she comes out.

"The rest is in the kitchen," Rindou offered helpfully. "Also, could one of you guys get everyone else? I've got... _A bit_ of an announcement to make."

Yuma shot Rindou an undecipherable glance over his cup. "If you're just going to share it with everyone else, why didn't you just wait to tell us now?"

Rindou whistled innocently. Yuma hid his slight grin behind his cup before setting it down nonchalantly.

Karasuma sighed, before lifting himself off of the couch and stepping towards the door. "I'll wake up Reiji-senpai and Jin-senpai. Shiori-san, can you get the girls?"

"Fine, _fine_ ~ You guys better save some breakfast for me though, _or else there'll be_ ** _hell_** _to pay_."

Yuma sweat dropped as Shiori shut the door behind them.

The atmosphere was relatively silent after that, but Yuma wanted to get a few questions in before the rest of the building walked in.

"Rindou-san," He began quickly, setting his now-empty plate down. "... Why did you decide to tell everyone in the end?"

"... Well, I **_do_** need to tell HQ, you know." He laughed, tilting the coffee maker over to pour another cup. "I just needed to tell them once it's _too late_ to change it back."

Yuma huffed in amusement, just before the door slammed open. "You're _evil_."

"Why so early?" Konami groused, stomping into the room with a surprising amount of enthusiasm despite her apparent drowsiness. "It's only..." A quick glance at the clock. "Eight o' clock. _You woke me up at eight_ ** _AM_**."

Rindou and Yuma surveyed the door as the remaining house residents walked in one by one before the former spoke up carefully. "We need to go to HQ today."

"Eh, why?" Shiori asked, before disappearing into the kitchen for a mere moment, but coming out with two plates of eggs and bacon. She offered the second plate to Kasumi, who nodded gratefully. "We don't have a rank wars match today, that was _yesterday_. What do we need to go for today?"

"Does **_everybody_** need to go?" Mori asked grumpily, sagging on the couch beside Yuma with dripping wet hair.

Konami glanced over at her blandly from across the room, before slowly stomping over and stealing the towel from around her shoulders. When Mori spun around in surprise and slight questioning, Konami sat her down before running the towel through her wet hair with a low grumble.

Kasumi shot the baffled Mori an amused glance, but turned away in the end.

"And should I leave now?" Kasumi asked politely. "If it's something classified, I'm afraid it may be easier if I headed back home..."

"We wouldn't kick you out as soon as you wake up," Karasuma reassured quickly. "Reiji-senpai already offered you a ride home, there's no reason for you to leave early."

"Besides, It's not much of a big deal in terms of security, as long as you don't have… _Context_." Rindou paused, before shrugging nervously. "... Besides, I might ask you to adopt someone, so it _might_ be better if you're actually _present for it_ —"

"... _What?_ "

There was dead silence.

Mori cracked an eye open as Konami's hands stilled, the towel still covering half of the former's face.

Rindou gulped, a slightly nervous laugh spilling from his mouth. "... _I might ask you to adopt someone...?_ "

" ** _What_**."

"Yeah, I _second_ that!" Konami cried out suddenly, broken out of her short trance. " _What the heck is this about?!_ "

"Ow, _ow_ , Konami-senpai—" Mori frowned as Konami lifted up the towel again, before pulling a brush out from god-knows-where. "—Y'know, you didn't **_need_** to dry or brush my hair—"

The teen shooter was summarily ignored.

Everyone spun around to glare questioningly at Jin, who's easy-going smile was once again present. "Don't look at me, I only found out about it yesterday." He paused, before shrugging. "I didn't want to be a part of this discussion either, but I figured it'd look like I was running away if I tried avoiding it."

"It would," Kizaki confirmed blankly.

" _Haha_ , that's what I thought."

"Who did you want her to... ' _Adopt_ '?" Karasuma asked carefully before lifting both hands to gesture in quotations. " _And_ ** _why_** _?_ "

Rindou was silent, sharing an uneasy glance with Yuma through his glasses.

The latter only grinned smugly, before shrugging. "It was _your_ idea, Rindou-san! Besides, if you think **_this_** is bad... Just wait 'till you need to tell _Kido_."

Mori muffled a snicker at the betrayed expression on Rindou's face.

The man sighed heavily... Before eventually deciding that it'd be best to drop the bomb bluntly.

"It's like ripping off a band-aid," Mori chortled. "Just go for it, _Rindou-san_."

"... _Fine then_." The man set down his cup of coffee with a sigh, before leaning heavily on the counter in front of him.

" _... I'm signing up Hyuse, the Neighbour, to go to school with Mikumo and Kuga._ "

There were ten, solid seconds of silence.

Ten seconds, where Mori prayed for Rindou's safety, as Yuma smugly prepared himself to watch the inevitable shit-fest this was going to be, for Jin to cover his ears with a slowly forming smirk, and for everyone else to slowly process the words that just came out of Rindou's mouth.

 _Honestly_ , there was no other way for this to end.

 ** _"ARE YOU CRAZY?!"_**

-0-

Betrayal was a terrible thing.

Hyuse reflected on it every second of the day, every day since he was stranded here.

( _It was_ ** _suffocating_** _._ )

' _Was this how Enedora would've felt?_ ' Hyuse kept thinking. After all, he didn't know the outcome of the invasion. Enedora's fate was anyone's guess at this point.

They did say they would leave the man behind, but they also chose to omit that Hyuse would be left behind as well if the mission was a failure.

It wouldn't surprise Hyuse if anything they said was now revealed to be a lie.

What's the point in being shocked when there's nothing left for him?

( _That's a lie, he knows it is. He still needs to get back to his Master, he knows it, but he just can't. There's no escape—_ )

Hyuse has found that imagining the worst case scenario is the best thing to do. Not that he's a pessimist, but there's no point in getting one's hopes up.

Until there is a change to this monotonous lifestyle, he sees no foreseeable escape.

Until then, he will keep treating his fate as it seems. _A prison with no escape_.

There has been one, a single outlier in this new life that he would have never foreseen during that moment that Meeden soldier had ripped his Trigger from him and thrown him in this ( _surprisingly well-kept_ ) basement.

One outlier.

One person… That, by all means, seemed like nothing but an annoyance at first.

'… _What_.'

"Prisoner-san! Prisoner-san, I've brought you food!"

A child.

A _child_. They sent him _a child_.

( _How easy would it be to just be done with it right now, a quick hit to the back of his head just as the boy opens the door, the escape is open he can escape he can get out he can go save his master from their own_ ** _godforsaken county that wants to sacrifice him to the system that keeps their planet alive—_** )

But he doesn't.

Part of Hyuse cannot let go of Aftokrator, while the other part of him is suffering from the sting of betrayal that remained once Hairein left Hyuse on the battlefield.

That Meeden soldier told him it'd happen. He hinted that Hyuse would be left behind, and it no longer matters how he knew. At the time, he figured that it was a lie, that he was just trying to get him to slip up, that there must be _some kind of mistake_... But the evidence was there.

It was there, in front of him, in the form of the sunny skies that were left in the wake of the invasion.

The part of him that longed to return to Aftokrator hung back and waited. Waited and waited and waited, and waited for the perfect time to escape from this dastardly planet because Hyuse _refused_ to be _left behind and_ ** _forgotten like trash_**.

And the other part of him—the part that figured there was just no point to any of it, that just wanted to disappear off the face of the planet—was left behind.

Left to try and make sense of this new life he was handed.

"Sorry, no one else is around." The child murmured, leaning against the animal that always accompanied him as the three of them sat on the floor of the basement. There were papers strewn all around them, along with a few pencils from the child's previous attempts at distracting himself.

Hyuse did not join in, simply looking on blankly. Because _seriously_ , did the Meeden child really think he cared about the variety in jailers that would bring him food? Whether they decided to stick around to watch him or amuse themselves afterwards like the child himself, hardly concerned him.

"I know they'll come around soon… But they're all _really_ sad." The child paused, before drooping sadly. "… I know they'll… come around soon… As soon as Mori wakes up, they'll all be back…"

Hyuse has no idea who this ' _Mori_ ' person is, but he assumes that it's someone that got hurt during the invasion.

( _It's none of his concern._ ** _It never was_**.)

The child(— _Yotaro, he said his name was, Yotaro_ —) came around many times after that. Always bringing food, bringing something to play with, and new topics to talk about.

And for all that Hyuse was being difficult—bland expression present every moment of the day, _every goddamn day_ —Yotaro actually managed to wrangle a few details out of the unresponsive Neighbour.

"So you like Taiyaki, huh? Well, _as your senpai_ , I'll make sure to bring you lots, and lots of Taiyaki! You can count on me!"

The fish pastry wasn't bad, he supposed. It was enjoyable to eat at times.

And somehow, the small Meeden child had found out about Hyuse's minor skill in the subject of visual arts.

"Whoa, did you draw those!?"

Hyuse turned around—mechanically, slowly, _tiredly_ — before shrugging slowly as he glanced back down at the papers in front of him.

"You're the one that brought the papers, what do you _think_?" Hyuse excused, tossing the top paper aside as Yotaro stepped into the room.

The child—instead of walking in normally, _like expected_ —ran into the room with his arms flailing. "Ahhh! _Hyu_ — ** _Kouhai_** , you can't just toss those around like that!"

"… Why not?" Hyuse's voice was flat, monotone, and above all tired. So tired of the world that had given up on him, tired of the planet that had abandoned him, the planet _—the nation that he had given up his_ ** _life_** _for, so,_ ** _so tired of just living like this_** — "… I drew it. I can do whatever I like with it. I could burn it and toss it away for all you _should_ care."

Right.

Because that was exactly what Aftokrator had done with him. His existence was molded for the specific use of his nation, for them to use as they see fit, so it was expected of them to _eventually_ ball it up and toss it in the trash once he was no longer useful.

That's all he was, wasn't it—?

 _"No, you shouldn't say that!"_

…

Hyuse, for the first time in the week that he had been kept in this dreary, lonely basement, tilted his head. In _confusion_. In _curiosity_.

Wondering.

"… _What's_ not it…?"

"You're wrong! Even if you don't want it, I like it _a lot_! Because I know you put effort into it, and it's something you made, so _I'm gonna keep it_!"

Hyuse's eyes widened, as Yotaro swooped right in from underneath his nose, and swiped the paper from him.

It was a simple pencil drawing. A simple sketch of a bird, drawn from the Neighbour's lost memories from so long ago, from a grassy field with trees around the coastline of the clearing—

 ** _"Ah, Hyuse. I thought you'd be here. You're always here when the teachers can't find you, aren't you?"_**

 ** _Hyuse grumbled, small makeshift eraser swiping across the parchment furiously as Hyuse squinted at the landscape in the distance._**

 ** _He couldn't quite get the look of that single tree right, and it was frustrating._**

 ** _"Hyuse, come now. Viza-san would be very disappointed to see you skipping."_**

 ** _"I'm not skipping—" Hyuse protested in a low grumble, temper already reaching its end. "The sun is only good around this time of day. Master, you know better than anyone that I wouldn't just_ skip _sword practice."_**

 ** _Hyuse's temper would eventually simmer down by the time that he grew older, but in the past? He was definitely one to get riled up easily._**

 ** _A little_ too _easy._**

 ** _"Ah, don't worry. I see what you mean." The Neighbour stepped up behind Hyuse, peeking over his shoulder to take a look at the sketch._**

 ** _"… Quite a masterpiece."_**

 ** _"It's not that good." Hyuse protested lightly, although his chest was warming with content and pride at the praise. "I'll probably end up losing it in a few hours, it's mostly just for practice."_**

 ** _The older Neighbour was quiet for a few more moments._**

 ** _Before the paper was snatched up from Hyuse's grip, the parchment lifting up and out of Hyuse's vision as he flinched minutely._**

 ** _"H-Hey! Don't just grab it like that—"_**

 ** _"I like it."_**

 ** _Hyuse paused, scrambling to his feet and hurriedly brushing off any sign of sort of grass from the relatively expensive clothing. "Wha—What are you…?!"_**

 ** _"I like it," The older Neighbour repeated, before folding up the parchment and tucking it away nonchalantly. "I'm keeping it."_**

 ** _"But why…?" Hyuse muttered, automatically falling into step beside his master as the Neighbour began to walk away. "It's not that good, you can get a better artwork if you ask a paid artist."_**

 ** _"Even if it's not drawn on the highest quality parchment, or sketched with the finest pencils in the entire Neighbourhood…" The adult chuckled. "Even if you don't, I like it quite a bit. So that's why...—"_**

"— _I'll make sure I never lose it, ok?_ " Yotaro promised with a smile, holding up the sketch as if it were a prized trophy. "Because even if _you_ don't want it, _I_ like it! So I'm gonna keep it!"

And Hyuse, at that exact moment, could feel the resolve within him crumble, yet fortify at the exact same time.

The resolve to return home, deep within him.

How is it possible to be so enraptured, yet at the same time, _so revolted_ at the very thought of something that used to be home?

-0-

Days pass, as the uncomfortable, conflicting feeling once again settles in the back of his mind.

Days pass, as Yotaro collects his drawings. On the odd day, Yotaro will bring a tablet with photos that he goes around outside to take, asking Hyuse to draw and copy the shoddily photographed landscape.

Hyuse complies, just quiet and bland enough to convey that he's only doing it because there's nothing else to do. Yotaro might have noticed, he might not have.

( _He's just a child after all._ )

Yotaro collects and collects and collects, and eventually, Hyuse can hear the loud complaining of the Meeden child through the door, begging for a quick stop to a nearby crafts store.

Hyuse rolls his eyes at the time. But when the child returns back with a photo book to hold the stray scraps of paper collected form Hyuse's hands, there's an undeniable warmth curling in his chest.

He ignores it.

Yotaro smiles and asks Hyuse to slide all of his drawings into the book, in order.

Once again, Hyuse complies. But it feels _less_ and _less_ like he's being forced to do it _every time_ that Yotaro asks him for something.

Nearly two weeks later, Hyuse finds himself waiting patiently for the tri-daily visits from the young boy. Hyuse had drawn a small tree that Yotaro had shown a photo of, and was sitting on the edge of his bed as he knowingly waited.

Unfortunately, the visitor was one that was less than welcome.

Hyuse blinks lethargically, light filtering in through the now-open door.

"Food."

The tray, holding a bowl of noodles this time, along with a set of chopsticks—Hyuse would never admit that he didn't like those things.

Once Yotaro noticed him having troubles with them, he had made one attempt to help the Neighbour with his troubles. With that ending in failure, the young boy had made the decision to instead bring a spoon and fork down instead.

The mere sight of the offending utensils was enough to make his eye twitch.

Though, the difference in the person had Hyuse at a slight loss as to what to do.

The teenager was around Hyuse's height, with dark, scruffy hair.

He seemed to notice that he wasn't welcome, and nodded politely as he set down the tray on a small table.

"Sorry Yotaro couldn't come by," He apologized, though the unfamiliarity of his voice had Hyuse's eyes narrowing unconsciously. "He was out for today since Rindou-san needed something."

Hyuse didn't recognize the name. He didn't care much for it either.

The teenager sighed after a long, tense silence, running his hand through his hair as he turned back towards the door.

"... I'll have Yotaro keep bringing the food down." He conceded, and a small, still-defiant part of him was satisfied that at least he wouldn't need to see this... _ingrate's_ face on the daily—

The door shut with a small click.

And Hyuse was left alone in the darkness, once again.

Once again, the conflicted feelings returned with the never-ending chant of _mustescapemustreturntomastermustgetawayfrom_ ** _thisgoddamnplanet_** —

And once again... _Hyuse was left wondering why he should even bother trying_.

-0-

Yotaro returned a few hours later, accompanied by Raijinmaru and a photo book in hand.

Just like normal. This was now normal.

"Hyuse, have you ever wanted to go home?"

The Neighbour freezes, but only for a moment. He has years of a soldier's teachings ingrained in his mind, years of being repeatedly told not to give his feelings away to the enemy.

( _But is Yotaro really the enemy?_ )

"Why do you ask?" He instead returns neutrally, thankful that the child is too unobservant to notice Hyuse's deflection for what it was.

"I was just wondering..." Yotaro sticks his tongue out as he swipes his pencil across the page, for once joining in as he usually does when he can get Hyuse to draw something for him. "... I really want Mori to wake up and I miss her, but no one tells me anything about it. I just wanted to know if you're missing something too."

( _'_ Mori _'. Hyuse distantly recalled the name from what feels like so long ago, although he can't remember the exact circumstances that he heard the name under. Someone had probably mentioned them before at some point._ )

Though Yotaro speaks the name with apparent fondness as wells as crushing worry, and so Hyuse finds himself committing the name to memory. _If albeit unwillingly_.

"Have you asked properly?" Hyuse finds himself asking, although he believed that he held no commitment to the topic of conversation.

"I _try_ ," Yotaro admits sadly. "Jin isn't really around, Konami's not really listening, and Torimaru is just really droopy. Reiji-san usually takes care of me while I'm here, but he's also doing something else most of the time."

Strangely, Hyuse finds himself more reluctant to remember those names than the first one. There's a clear difference in which Yotaro speaks of them...

He comes to the conclusion that this ' _Mori_ ' person has suffered some kind of injury during the invasion, thus marking the difference in tone. Which is strange, because then wouldn't Yotaro be more likely to avoid any Neighbours— _like Hyuse_ —if that were the case?

Unless Yotaro was in the dark as to Hyuse's origins, which he somehow found himself doubting.

"Is there anyone else around." Hyuse winces as he finds his tone flatter than he meant it to be. It ends up sounding more like a statement than a question, but the other pays no mind.

( _He doesn't know why he winced. There was_ ** _clearly_** _no reason for it_.)

"There's _Chika-chan_ and _Yuma_ …" Yotaro frowned, leaning heavily against Raijinmaru. "And Mori's _mom_. I haven't met her yet, 'cause they haven't let me go back to the doctor's since the first time."

Hyuse pauses, before absentmindedly correcting, "— _Hospital_."

"I really wanna talk to Yuma about it, since they said _he's_ the one that found her, but I wanna see Yosuke too. And Shun, and Kohei. And even Shuji- _san_ , even though he's a _buttface_."

Hyuse doesn't know what Yotaro means by ' _found her_ ', since Hairein had pretty much cut connection with him once he was being stalled by the Meeden soldier, and he has no other way of knowing what was going on at the time. Hyuse knows now why the connection was cut, although he pushes the ramification from his mind as he _slowly processes_ —

"… **_Buttface_**?" Hyuse incredulously echoes.

Yotaro pouts defensively. "He glares at everyone! A _lot_! And I remember Mori telling me about him _trying to take away Yuma's Trigger once_ — But I don't know that much about that."

Hyuse tucks away that piece of information for later. For as much as he rejects the idea of even _attempting_ to go back to Aftokrator, he can't deny the underlying **_want_** to just return back to his home, _to his Master_.

( _He ignores the guilt slowly dragging its cold, dark claws against his mind. There's no reason to feel guilt, the Meeden organization was basically_ ** _asking_** _Hyuse to find out information that they didn't want him to know, sending a_ ** _child_** _of all people to '_ guard _' him_.)

Yotaro groaned, falling forwards with a frustrated expression. Hyuse absentmindedly stuck his arm to break his 'fall'.

-0-

Soon, things are starting to look up for Yotaro. He comes tearing down the stairs with a smile on his face one day, yelling something about ' _Mori waking up_ ' and with a patience Hyuse didn't know he possessed, he nods along quietly with the young boy's elated cheers.

And nearly half a week later, the Neighbour finds himself dragged upstairs for the first time.

He sees new faces, and a single ( _uncomfortably_ ) familiar one as well.

Hyuse caught sight of the brown-haired Meeden soldier from the invasion briefly passing through what he assumed was the kitchen, but didn't get a good glance before he was pulled away.

Among the people he can't recall, there's a strawberry-blonde girl and an older man with a square pair of glasses. The Meeden soldier joins them a few minutes later, quietly sneaking in without a word and so unnervingly different from the mocking, teasing soldier he'd fought just a few weeks ago that he can't bring himself to comment.

He sits beside the only person he feels even remotely comfortable near, Yotaro—which is strange, because Hyuse isn't supposed to feel comfortable around an enemy—And watches in mild irritation as the screen in the room flicks on.

He watches.

Patiently watching the events unfolding on the screen, secretly enjoying the expressions of complete bafflement and shock on everyone's faces ( _And in the commentators' voices_ ), because Hyuse had never gotten a chance to watch people enjoy battle so earnestly while there was also no suffering involved.

( _Aftokrator is just war. War, war,_ ** _war_** _. And while some people take genuine enjoyment in battles like that, it's dampened by the cold atmosphere surrounding the nations they've trampled. The cold, bitter_ ** _loss_** _in the air is secretly sickening to him._ )

Watching something like this was _almost_ exciting, in a way. But nevertheless, he flattens his expressions and forces himself not to give anything away as he watches Yotaro happily cheer on the insanity that was Tamakoma-2.

 _Tamakoma...-2_.

… He watched. And he forced himself not to say a word as he watched the bright, white-hair dance across the screen with swirling blades and a confidence that one would only find on in a war zone, or dark eyebrows pinch in annoyance—but also poorly-hidden exhilaration— behind square-ish white frames.

He watched a small figure nearly drowning in the large cloak tossed around the Trion body's shoulders, hopping from hiding spot to hiding spot as she fired cannon-shot after cannon-shot.

And he noticed with a keenness that he only gained through years of war and battle, that the short sniper could not shoot anyone to kill, for all the Trion she had.

( _Hyuse stomped down and spat on any pity he may have on the matter. Because he had never seen such kindness in Aftokrator, where_ ** _nameless_** _, unimportant orphans were picked up off the street to get Trion-enhancing horns implanted into their very mind, the roots digging in and settling around their brain to the point where it_ ** _twisted their very personality_** —)

Sometimes Hyuse thought about Enedora. About betrayal, and the sting that would never go away as he both _longed_ for—and _despised_ his home country.

And sometimes, he wondered if the horns in his head had affected his personality, his outlook on **_everything_** around him, just like it had done with Enedora.

(… _Sometimes, Hyuse wondered if he was really_ ** _himself_** _anymore. Maybe his homeland had taken that from him as well._ )

-0-

 _ **A/N -**_

 _ **Ok, so it was brought to my attention by my lovely beta reader while they were proofreading this...**_

 _ **Is this fic overly shippy? Please give me an honest answer on that one, I'm having a serious crisis.**_

 _They were like : Oh wow, you're really throwing out something for the Jin/Mori shippers at the beginning here, aren't you_

 _Me : What._

 _Beta : Actually, I wonder if anyone thinks this is a Mori/Everyone thing... There's Jin, Yuma, Inukai, Kikuchihara, and everyone else..._

 _Me. WHAT._

 _Beta : Wow, that's actually kind of funny, huh._

 _ **... And that's how it went.**_

 _ **Honestly, I was only considering shipping Mori with ONE other character, but I dunno if there'll be more opportunities to give them interactions in the future or not... Or if it'll even work out for the plot and stuff, so I've been keeping it platonic for now...**_

 _ **If I could get some opinions on this, it'd be great? Even if I do consider shipping at ALL, it's not going to be the primary focus, which is one reason why I'm not really doing it. I feel like it would mess up the whole dynamic of the fic, as well as interfere with some of the plot...? Whatever, thanks for watching me ramble, SEE YOU GUYS NEXT WEEK!**_


	17. Good For You

_**A/N -**_

 _ **I've been told that this is a very domestic chapter. By my Beta writer... Typical.**_

 _ **... Oof. I didn't mean to fuel the shippers more. (**_ ** _On a side note, I'll be busy studying for-what seems like the entire day tomorrow-So I decided to post the chapter a little ahead of time. Hope y'all have a good week!)_**

 _ **But it's a good chapter in my opinion, so up it goes! Thank you very much for all of your reviews, favorites, and follows!**_

-0-

"Rindou-san," Kasumi began evenly, now standing at the door with narrowed eyes. "I hope you are aware that adoption papers for a child that _isn't_ in an orphanage… Don't appear out of thin air."

Rindou sweatdropped, bowing respectfully to Kasumi. " _Well, uh_ — I figured we could just fake it… Until we make it…?"

Kasumi's eyes narrowed further, but I cut in with a quick hug before she could berate the man further.

"Alright mom, I'll see you later?" I asked quickly. "I'm probably going to stay over here for dinner, and if you wanted, you could come over again…?"

"…Maybe," She hugged back subtly, already nodding. She probably noticed my efforts to take her attention off of my boss and decided to reluctantly comply. "I _do_ need to get this in order after all… Though maybe if I can finish quickly, I'll be back in time to discuss any of the remaining issues with Rindou-san." She shot a quick glare in the man's direction.

Jin pat his boss' shoulder comfortingly, although the action was dampened by the amused chuckle that slipped out through his lips.

Rindou's shoulders drooped further.

"I'd appreciate it if you came," I added quickly, just before separating from the woman. "I'll be here all day and _relatively_ not-busy, so if you need anything, just call."

"I could say the same to you," She huffed in amusement, before following Kizaki out the door to be driven home. Konami accompanied them since everyone figured she'd be bad at the whole ' _negotiations_ ' thing, and Yotaro was still sleeping as Kizaki carried him out on his back.

There was a long, drawn-out silence as everyone tried piecing together our course of action for the day.

A silence that wasn't really a silence, considering you could hear the muffled, amused snickers from Yuma, Jin and myself. Though it was mostly the former two.

"So…" Chika turned back to our boss. "We're heading to HQ…?"

Karasuma picked up from there. "You just wanted us to back you up while you tell Kido, huh?"

Rindou shrugged with a slightly nervous grin. "Well, _you see_ —"

Shiori cut him off with a loud, slightly exasperated sigh. "—Don't bother making excuses, Rindou-san. We'll go with you."

"Really?" He perked up slightly, only for—

"Yeah, but you owe us."

He drooped again. "… I _suppose_ that is expected."

"Ok, but serious talk?" Jin composed himself, though another chuckle slipped in between his words. "Mori and I should stay here. The rest of you guys can go, but we'll stay home just for today."

"… Eh?" Shiori tilted her head in curiosity. "Any particular reason?"

I distantly recalled Inukai's offer to spar later today. Either that needs to be rescheduled, or I need to leave later on… After whatever Jin is talking about, is over. It sounds relatively important, so I'll go along with it.

" _Kind of_ ," He laughed. "Something's gonna happen, and it'd be bigger mess if anyone else were around… Though It's going to be a mess either way."

"Ah, lovely." I laughed, loud and slightly sarcastic, but also light-hearted and slightly relaxed. "Another shit-storm to rain down upon my life. It's kind of unnerving how quickly I've gotten used to this."

"Almost dying will do that to you," Yuma joked, as everyone else winced.

I shot my best friend a quick finger gun for indulging me and my slightly annoying ' _dying/stab_ '-jokes.

"… But yeah, she should probably be here for this. I'm just here because I'm lazy." Jin hummed. "… But don't blame me if you get back and Mori has burned the building down in a fit of rage."

Everyone else was out of the room before I could even blink, each awkwardly shoving each other out the door until the room was relatively empty, void of most of the Tamakoma residents.

Yuma, on the other hand, was _slowly_ making his way out of the door was a small grin. He muttered a quiet ' _Have fun, Mori_ ', before shutting the door behind him.

There was a quiet murmur in the background of everyone —everyone being Rindou, Karasuma, Chika, Shiori, and Yuma— making their way to the remaining car in what seemed to be a hurry.

I raised my eyebrow blandly at Jin.

He only grinned at me in amusement. "I was only _half_ lying."

"And what, _pray tell_ , would cause me to go into a—" I lifted up my fingers to make quotations. "—so-called, ' _fit of rage_ '?"

He laughed but didn't answer me quite yet.

-0-

"Should we be worried about leaving those two alone while Jin's plotting?" Karasuma asked, sitting in the front seat. In the back seat, Chika— being the smallest by a small margin compared to Yuma—was sitting on Shiori's lap, with Yuma beside them, and Hyuse on the very end.

" _Jin's always plotting,_ " Yuma muttered but continued to go ignored.

"They'll be fine," Rindou muttered hopefully. " _They'll be fine_."

"It makes it less believable when you repeat it again," Shiori muttered, leaning against the car door she was sitting beside. "By the way, what's the plan for on our way back? We're not planning on handing Hyuse over to HQ, but I really don't want to sit like this again, so I think I'd rather walk home than be in the car again."

Chika's expression was slightly sheepish and apologetic, which Yuma pat her on the shoulder for. The seating arrangement wasn't optimal, but it could have been worse.

"I guess you could walk back if you wanted to, Shiori," RIndou conceded, starting up the car. "Anyone of you guys back there—except for Hyuse— can actually walk home if you want. Hyuse is the only one that needs to be driven, and Karasuma's just here to make sure that he doesn't get away."

Hyuse shot everyone in the car a disbelieving look. Honestly, Yuma didn't blame him for the sheer strangeness of the situation.

-0-

"I think the rest of them were planning on getting Rindou-san to buy them dinner, as a favour for them," Mori laughed, standing up from her spot on the floor. "… Should we spare him and make dinner for when they get back?"

"I'm sure he'd appreciate that."

" _Good_ ," She huffed. "'Cause I'm in the mood to cook, and I didn't really need anyone's permission anyway."

Jin laughed, slouching down on the now empty couch. "… What were you planning on making?"

Mori pulled a hair elastic off of her wrist and reached up behind her head to pull together her only _slightly_ damp hair. "Don't know yet. What's happening today, and how long is it gonna take?"

Jin hummed, before sitting up slowly and making his way towards the door. "… It might be a while, so go ahead and do whatever I guess."

Mori paused, finally finished tying up her hair, before narrowing her eyes at her accomplice.

"… Do you even know when— _whatever this is_ —is actually happening?"

Jin laughed, stepping out into the hallway as his voice bounced off of the empty hall walls. "Not exactly," He admitted without shame.

Mori scowled half-heartedly, leaning out into the hallway to call out after him. "If you're still in that Trion body when you get back, I'm kicking you down the stairs!"

"Mori, we're on the ground floor!"

"There's still a basement level!"

"… What if I just… _Don't come back over there_?"

Mori pushed up her glasses and began rolling up her sleeves as she made her way to the kitchen.

"Jin, you are getting your ass over here, and you are going to be my mock-sous chef while we cook dinner for the whole goddamn branch building!"

The sunglasses Jin had gifted her were folded and tucked into her shirt, swinging side-to-side as she walked. By the time she had arrived at the kitchen though, she wrenched open the fridge before groaning loudly.

"… What is it now?" Jin asked after a moment, peeking through the doorway from behind her, now wearing casual clothes and no longer in a Trion body, which was a rare sight on its own.

"We're out of food, how often does Rindou-san refill this fridge…?" Mori grumbled, counting what little ingredients there were in their kitchen. "… We're gonna need to head out to the grocery store, huh?"

"I guess so…" Jin sighed.

Mori shot him a quick, slightly suspicious side-eye. "Couldn't you have just foreseen this, you bastard?"

"… _Maybe I already did_?"

The female teen jabbed him in the side, just as he began to laugh at her misery, once again. It was light-hearted this time, and Mori supposes that she can't fault him for wanting to spend just a _little_ time with her after that shipwreck of a week they've had since she woke up.

-0-

 **Four-eyed weirdo : i apologize, but I can't make it for our plans today. sorry.**

Cloud buddy : Aw, really? Shame… Well, I guess I'll NEED to ask Tsuji-chan to hang out with me, or else I'll get bored.

 **Four-eyed weirdo : JESUS CHRIST you type FAST**

Cloud buddy : Haha, nice reaction… Anyways, I guess Hiyami-chan is probably gonna be around too though. Ninomiya said he's going out sometime later, so it's not like we can hang out as a team…

Cloud buddy : Maybe I should just find someone else to bother? I'm sure Arafune's around, and if I'm lucky, Murakami-chan will be with him. If I'm unlucky, Kage-chan will be with him.

 **Four-eyed weirdo : Kageura. you call Kageura-san "Kage-chan"?**

Cloud buddy : Haha, yeah, but I think Murakami-chan and Arafune came up with the nickname first, since they're his friends.

Cloud buddy : He doesn't like me all that much.

 **Four-eyed weirdo : … Ok then?**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : You seem unbothered by this fact**

Cloud buddy : Eh, you can't get along with EVERYBODY.

Cloud buddy : So I shared my side, what's going on on YOUR end?

 **Four-eyed weirdo : …pardon?**

Cloud buddy : What're your plans for today?

 **Four-eyed weirdo : oh**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : well I'm making dinner for the branch, and i guess other than that… its supposed to be a lazy day.**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : Jin said that something's happening though, thats why i need to stay back. He won't tell me WHAT though… rn we're going out to buy food tho before heading back**

Cloud buddy : Ah, shame.

Cloud buddy : Maybe we can hang out tomorrow after school?

Cloud buddy : Whenever your school ends, anyway.

 **Four-eyed weirdo : Sounds alright with me. im PRETTY sure I can drop the baggage off before heading over to border, anyhow**

Cloud buddy : … I'm almost afraid to ask, but "baggage"?

 **Four-eyed weirdo : I'm showing around a new student, that's probably gonna end up joining our branch. or something, he's living over here for now anyways**

Cloud buddy : Oh good, I was worried it was going to turn out to be something insane. A new student sounds relatively normal.

 **Four-eyed weirdo : …yeah, normal. sure, lets go with that.**

-0-

"Are you going to be ok walking around for today?" Jin asked politely, although we were already walking through the city and towards the grocery store.

I noticed we were slowly nearing the area of which the store was in, so I sent a quick 'alright gtg', before I levelled a flat stare in his direction. "I think you would know that better than even myself. What's my future lookin' like, Mr. soothsayer. Aren't you gonna read my palms or some shit?"

He snickered lightly at the quips, before shoving his hands in his pockets with a smirk. "The forecast today—"

I shoved him to the side, a bark of laughter being poorly disguised as a cough. Jin joined in on the laughter just as we walked up to the front door of the supermarket, the door opening automatically before we stepped in.

Jin picked up a plastic basket— _bless the man, I hate those things, those are so fucking_ ** _awkward_** _to carry_ —before nudging me in the arm. "What do we need, _oh great head chef_?"

"It's weird when you call me that," I muttered quietly. "I'm literally only 15 years-old."

Jin shrugged unapologetically. "Shun's still a year younger than you, ya' know."

"I mean, _I guess_."

I tossed a few bars of cream cheese into the basket, Jin huffing slightly as the basket gained weight in his hands.

"Why did you need those…?" He asked, although he probably already knew the answer.

(… _That used to annoy me a little._ )

I snickered, covering my mouth with my cold hand. "It was on sale, _Mr. Soothsayer._ "

He frowned playfully at the nickname. "… Are you going to call me that forever?"

"I don't know, _will I?_ You're more likely to know that than I am."

-0-

Videogame Addict : mori! pls help me

Videogame Addict : kohei is being super mean and he cheated while we were playing video games

Videogame Addict : help me pull a prank on him pretty pleeeeaaassseee

 **Four-eyed weirdo : im shopping rn yuu-senpai sorry can't talk**

Videogame Addict : eh, rlly?

Videogame Addict : u didn't seem like the type to go shopping nd stuff

 **Four-eyed weirdo : grocery shoppin**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : with jin**

Videogame Addict : wait, r u guys finally ok with each other? finally made up and all that?

 **Four-eyed weirdo : …how did you know something was wrong in the first place**

Videogame Addict : tachi knew because he and kazama gossip with each other

Videogame Addict : and jin was feeling down since the invasion so i assumed

Videogame Addict : cause you were all upset too kind of i think

 **Four-eyed weirdo : … I didn't expect you to be so observant**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : also, Tachikawa-san, Kazama-san? gossiping?**

Videogame Addict : …please dont tell them i described it like that

 **Four-eyed weirdo : I doubt its as weird as your making it sound, so ill forget about it**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : talk to you later Yuu-senpai**

Videogame Addict : ttyl mori, be safe

-0-

"Green onions, pineapple, salt," I listed, a small amount of glee making it's way through my voice as I pulled out ingredient after ingredient out of the plastic bags. "Carrots, beef tenderloin, chicken breast, panko, eggs—"

"Did we _really_ need all of this?" Jin chortled, helping me unload all of the food items into the fridge or cupboard. "Rindou's wallet is suffering because of you, Mori."

I waved a hand at him dismissively, although I had no doubt the man could see my shoulders shaking with smothered laughter. "He deserves it after all of the bullshit we put up with. _Honestly_ , sending Hyuse to school without previous permission from HQ? Asking my mother to _forge_ some adoption papers for him so that Hyuse can be legally listed as my cousin—or brother, depending on what mom chooses? And _right_ after that big scene he made at the press conference when I was in a coma, I swear. It's because of him that the away mission is starting earlier than usual, now we need to get to A-rank faster."

( _"'_ Forge _' is a harsh word, Mikumo," Jin protests, but I send him a flat stare that has him shrugging._ )

"Oh?" Jin shared my amusement, and he didn't seem all that regretful for using our boss' debit card number to pay for all of our groceries. "And who'd you hear that last little tidbit of information from?"

"The ' _away mission starting earlier_ ' tidbit?" I questioned. "Kikuchihara told me about it, since he was kind of annoyed by it too."

He snickered at that, just as I began to pull out some pots and pans, cutting boards, and a few knives.

"Alright, you could do me a quick favour and chop up the cream cheese into smaller chunks for me, and toss it in the bowl." I paused, before explaining leisurely. "I'm in the mood for cheesecake all of a sudden, and god knows how much time we have until this so-called ' _disaster_ ' arrives."

Jin shrugged and didn't seem too apologetic. His body language told me that he was slightly worried though, and I dreaded whatever would make Jin-of-all-people, _worried_.

"We can have panko-fried chicken for dinner since we bought a lot of that." I shoved the bag of panko off to the side, before pulling the chicken out of the fridge. "I'm _pretty_ sure we can prepare it right now and let it sit until dinner time before frying it, as long as we cover it with plastic wrap."

Jin hummed in agreement, already cutting the cream cheese bars into small chunks. I eyed the neatly cut pieces with thinly veiled suspicion.

"… You didn't strike me as the type to be able to cook." I paused, before sending him a slightly sheepish smile. "Honestly, I thought you were the type to live off of fried rice crackers and instant ramen because it would be the only thing you could make..."

"And what gave you that idea?" There was slight amusement in his tone, and my grin stretched further.

"It was probably… Oh, _I don't know_ , the lifetime supply of fried rice-crackers in your room? The way you stay in your Trion body _all_ day, _every_ day? Take your pick."

He snickered for a while, before slowly coming to a halt as the silence took over.

"… Just don't trust me to actually _cook_ anything over a fire, and we'll be good."

There were a few more moments of silence before our laughter started up again.

( _Being this friendly with Jin is new, but welcome. It's surprisingly nice when I don't find myself aggravated by his every move like before_.)

(… _But still… What's bad enough to actually worry Jin? That_ ** _isn't_** _a full-blown Neighbour invasion…?_ )

"I wonder how the rest of them are doing," Jin mentioned nonchalantly, still chopping up the cream cheese. "… Do you think Kido will kill them?"

I couldn't help the snicker that escaped. "Maybe he _will_. Hopefully, Rindou-san and Shinoda-san will protect them from certain death."

He handed me the bowl of cheese with a grin, and I promptly tossed it in the fridge while I handed him something else to do. That's all that was really happening at the moment. Just waiting idly for something to happen…

Maybe I shouldn't be as in the dark about this as I am.

"Hey, Jin-san…?" I waited for him to show that he was listening, before going on. "… Can I get at least a little warning on whatever's coming soon?"

He didn't answer me for a while, keeping his eyes down on his work. When he did finally answer, he began with a question.

"What did you want to know?"

( _Keep it lighthearted_ ) I sighed before tilted my head up slightly upwards in thought. "Maybe, could I get a danger level or something?" ( _Don't hold anything against him, it isn't his fault_ ) "Like, on a scale of… Meeting-Yuma danger— _which was_ ** _really_** _the start of this wild rollercoaster my life has become_ —to… Large-scale-invasion danger."

He laughed at the smile amount of hilarity from the former, before sobering up. "… It's… not really a _danger_ , per se. It's more of…" He hummed, a dull ' _thud_ ' echoing in the room as the knife made contact with the cutting board. "… It _might_ be hard on you, mentally. But it'll only affect you negatively if you _let_ it."

That statement, in particular, was what caused me to give him a puzzled expression.

He laughed, before waving his hand at me. "Don't give me that look, I wasn't being _that_ cryptic."

"I suppose," I huffed. "But only in comparison to some of your _earlier_ statements."

"… Was I really that bad?"

"You pissed me off around 80-percent of the time. It was _pretty_ bad."

He shrugged, before finding it in himself to continue the previous topic. "… Maybe at first, it'll piss you off in more ways than one. But if you push past that, you'll most likely learn something that'll help you grow from it."

"… Do you think I can do that?" I asked quietly, before elaborating. "Learn from my mistakes, I mean. Sometimes I think that I'll never learn, or that I never did."

I felt a hand on my back, warm and comforting rather than condescending. "You shouldn't put yourself down like that, four-eyes. Besides… You'll have a chance to show how much you've grown."

( _… He really thinks that_.)

"Soon, you'll start to learn more about being a captain, about everyone in Border. And then… You'll start to make your way up the ranks. I guarantee it."

( _Jin really has trust in me. He really doesn't doubt me to do that._ )

"… Do you mind if I handled this alone then? Whatever it is."

"If that's what you want. Just don't lose control, and you'll be fine."

-0-

After a while, that mostly consisted of light-hearted banter as well as me ordering around the laid-back A-rank agent in our cooking duties. He laughed along most of the time and did as I asked, but I _very quickly_ learned not to leave him alone with an open fire—or any actual cooking in that general manner.

' _I can't see the future of inanimate objects_ ,' He excused with a carefree laugh as I held a frying pan of burning leeks in my hand, staring at him accusingly. ' _I don't know when to take it off the fire._ '

Ok, I guess I understood where he's coming from. Cooking is weird, and sometimes things can look like they're undercooked when they're not. It's understandable sometimes, to an extent.

( _But Jin._ ** _JIN_** _. The vegetables were charred, for crying out loud_.)

… We didn't have another incident like that for the rest of the morning, thankfully. I made **_sure_** of it.

And before long, the doorbell had rung.

My head lifted up, and I sent a slightly questioning glance over to the doorway of the kitchen, already untying my apron from around my waist as I started down the hall.

"Take everything off the stove, and _don't_ do anything before I get back," I asked politely( _for once_ ), as Jin held out a hand to take the apron. I sent him a thankful nod while handing over the cloth, before slowly making my way closer to the door.

His expression was slightly apprehensive, and I shot him one last grateful look just before he turned back and stepped back into the kitchen.

The doorbell rang again, spaced out enough from the last ring to still seem relatively professional, rather than annoying or too impatient.

"Alright, _alright_ , I'm coming!" I called back, reaching for the knob, and unlocking the front door with my other hand. With one smooth movement, the ' _click_ ' of the lock mechanism, and I took that as my cue to wrench the door open.

Sharp, narrowed eyes.

A crisp, neat, professional dark suit.

I barely surpessed a small flinch at his almost natural glaring expression.

"... I'm Ninomiya Masataka, from Ninomiya squad." The man began clearly. "I have a few questions for Amatori Chika and Mikumo Mori. I was told they'd be here."

And without a single shake in my hands… I pulled open the door and led him in.

-0-

( _The meeting room was fairly full today, Yuma observed. Along with the people from Tamakoma, being Rindou, Chika, Shiori, Karasuma, and Yuma himself, there were several people from HQ. That being said, Kido was present, obviously, with Shinoda, Kinuta, Kikuchihara, and Miwa right beside him. The latter had shot a quick glare at Yuma when he entered the room, but other than that, they were without conflict._ )

( _For now_.)

"I will not…" Hyuse authenticated clearly, careful to keep his voice on that careful balance of bland, unaffected, but also unwavering. "… Answer any questions about my homeworld."

There was silence in the meeting room before Hyuse tacked on a sharp but not rushed, " _I have nothing else to say_ " Just to clarify.

And the silence continued before the chubby man, who's name Hyuse did not know— _nor care to know_ —crossed his arms with a huff.

"Prisoners sure are _arrogant_ when brought from **Tamakoma**." His tone put a strange amount of emphasis on the final word, and Hyuse watched in detached amusement as _not one_ person in the room reacted to it.

( _Hyuse came to realize that the branch that was keeping him captive seemed a bit more… Separate than the actual organization itself. Some kind of internal feud, maybe?_ )

"Neighbour," The man continued sharply. "Don't assume we're as lenient as Tamakoma. We, the people at HQ, don't have an issue with getting any information you may hold… _Through_ ** _force_** _,_ _if need be_."

( _Only Rindou, Shinoda, and Kido's eyes caught the darkened flicker that ran through Yuma's eyes. Because there was a_ ** _lie_** _, wasn't there?_ )

"And again, what's the point of this blind loyalty?" Kinuta demanded, voice not quite yet a shout. "Are you aware that one of the Neighbours died at the hands of those who they thought were their comrades? And the way they spoke, it sounded like they planned to kill him from the start! What's the point in cannon fodder protecting their country when it would turn on them so _easily_?!"

"Kinuta-san, I doubt all that is necessary," Another man continued, as if the option of torture hadn't just been thrown on the table. "Before we get to asking him any questions… I'd like to ask Yuma something in particular. How differently do they treat captives on the other side?"

Yuma scratched his head at that( _he'd only been expecting to be addressed by Rindou_ ). "Well… For getting information, torture isn't primarily used. The captive could just say whatever, and you'd have to trust that it's true… Which isn't very efficient in general. It'd be best if you had multiple prisoners that you could compare stories with, yeah?"

Kido's eyes seemed to get sharper as his gaze slid over to the white-haired teen. "Yes, but you could tell the truth from lies, _correct_?"

The air seemed to get colder as the two finally looked each other in the eyes. Rindou gulped.

'… _Maybe I shouldn't have brought Yuma along to this meeting…_ '

Yuma gave a closed eye smile, though the expression didn't elevate any of the tension in the room. "Is that the only reason you tolerate my presence in this room, _oh-great-commander-Kido?_ "

Hyuse's amusement rose again, his bland interest in the conflict negating any effects the tension could have on him.

Kido's eyes were dark and particularly cold as he stared Yuma down. "There's no need to get all riled up, I was simply confirming my suspicions. _Kuga_."

Kikchihara shifted in his chair, both him and Miwa sitting silently with raised eyebrows.

(I should probably change the topic, _Rindou decided_. I do have something I need to bring up anyway, now's as good as any time.)

Except it wasn't.

"Hm, well, I've got the perfect plan!" Rindou burst into the conversation, his tone just little too light, and shoulders just a little too relaxed.

Both Kido's sharp glare and Yuma's unnaturally carefree gaze turned to him, and Rindou lost just a _liiiiittle_ bit of the bravado he had.

Of course, not enough to deter him.

( _Oh boy, it might've been better if he stopped there. You'll never know though, I guess._ )

"What." Kido's tone was flat, cold, and generally angry, but Rindou decided to go on anyway.

( _He didn't see Shiori and Karasuma's aborted gestures for him to stop. Miwa and Kikuchihara did though, and they watched on in growing confusion_.)

"Well, you know the _true_ torture for kids nowadays," Rindou elaborated with false cheer. " _School is a_ ** _pretty_** _horrible punishment_ , isn't it?"

Yuma was starting to get the idea that RIndou liked pissing Kido off on purpose. Not that he was gonna stop him, but for others, it just made him seem like an oblivious idiot when he _wasn't_.

" ** _What_**." Kido repeated again, and honestly, no one could blame him.

"I've decided, since you let Hyuse go into Tamakoma's custody," RIndou grinned, just as Hyuse shot the man a bewildered glance. Probably questioning everything that was being said, because Hyuse was **_not_** _told about any of this_. "That I'll be sending Hyuse off to school! He'll have two guards at all times, no worries, but doesn't that sound like a **_great_** idea?"

And after approximately 5 seconds of stunned silence, everyone hastily evacuated the room as Kido attempted to _violently_ murder Rindou.

-0-

 **Torimaru : Hey, how're things going over there?**

 **Torimaru : …Jin-senpai?**

 **Torimaru : Jin-senpai, please answer.**

Jin : sorry didn't see these

Jin : could I maybe text you back later

 **Torimaru : … I suppose.**

Jin : thanks

-0-

"… _So_." Yuma swung his arms up behind his head, making his way down the hallway without a care. "I'm hungry, we should get some lunch."

"You had breakfast not too long ago," Chika reminded patiently, and Yuma hummed with furrowed brows. "And I think big sister was planning on making dinner."

Yuma hummed again at that. "… _I guess_ I can wait."

"… Should we _try_ to save Rindou-san?" Karasuma asked after a while, although not one person in the group made a move to turn back. "He **_did_** bring us along to help him smooth this out, you know."

"Nah," Shiori whistled. "If Mori **_is_** cooking, then Rindou-san can't buy us all dinner. So technically, the deal's off."

Both Miwa and Kikuchihara watched in morbid fascination as the Tamakoma agents slowly walked away from the scene of the crime, where their boss was( _most likely_ )being— _or about to be_ —brutally slaughtered.

Hyuse was still standing there, completely bland expression. Before he could even _jokingly_ entertain the thought of making a break for it, Karasuma stepped back to stand right beside him, and any possibilities of escape vanished at that moment. Of course, it didn't really matter in the end, as Hyuse didn't particularly care.

"The two of us probably need to wait here though," Karasuma grabbed Hyuse's arm, completely unperturbed as the Neighbour shook his hand off harshly. "Rindou-san needs to drive Hyuse home, and I've been assigned guard duty for today… _And for the last time_."

"The ' _last_ ' time?" Shiori questioned, as Kikuchihara raised an eyebrow in silent questioning.

"Oh, captain and I'll be on guard duty for 24-hours from Monday and onwards," Yuma picked up seamlessly, pointing at himself as the group came to a halt. "Kasumi's currently forging adoption papers so Hyuse can live at their house, so she'll be guarding him after hours, and he's been assigned to the same class as us for during the day."

Miwa looked vaguely amused as confusion and undeniable regret spread over Hyuse's expression, though the amusement quickly transitioned to pity for Kasumi, being the one to take care of the two menaces. "Does Kasumi-san know about the circumstances? She **_is_** technically a civilian, I don't think she allowed to be privy to this information."

Yuma, being on particularly **_not_** good-terms with Miwa, decided not to answer.

"Rindou-san said something about… ' _as long as she doesn't have context_ ', and ' _as long as we don't tell her directly_ '… Then it's fine," Chika explained from beside Yuma. "But Kasumi-san is really smart, so she's probably already figured it out."

"That's to be expected," Shiori mumbled, just as the group began to move forward again, away from Karasuma and Hyuse who were standing against the wall. They walked on for a few more moments in silence, before Shiori perked up again. "You guys should come over for dinner!"

… Well, that came out of nowhere.

Kikuchihara turned, slowly and deliberately with a questioning expression. "… _What_ …?"

No one really had any doubt that he heard what was said, but Shiori repeated it again anyways.

"Come over for dinner!" It sounded like less of a question this time. "You guys and your squads! It'll be fun, Mori's really the best cook in the branch!"

"Except for Reiji," Yuma admitted. "We haven't really had a chance to compare their cooking, and Reiji won't really get back to the building in time to cook anything for today."

"… Yoneya will probably want to go." Miwa scoffed and turned away. "But what makes you think **_I'd_** —"

Shiori wrapped an arm around his neck, causing him to cut off with a sputtered choke. Everyone else watched in bewildered amusement as she dragged him along with a cheery grin. "Alright, you're coming too! No exceptions, if Kikucchi's coming, you are too! Kikucchi, we gotta invite Kazama and Uttei and Mikami-chan too, do you know where they are?"

Kikuchihara scowled, backing away slightly. "Why am I getting dragged along—"

" _What was that, Kikucchi?_ "

"… Nothing. I'll… Text them."

The male teen could only scowl grumpily as his eyes caught sight of Yuma's smug grin. He pulled his phone out and proceeded to type.

-0-

Chat : Kazama-Unit

 **Kikucchi : the traitor wants us to come over to tamakoma for dinner**

 **Kikucchi : save yourselves, shes already caught me**

Uttei : Certainly it's not THAT bad… Right?

Kazama-san : I'm sure it'll be fine.

Mikami : Is there something going on in particular?

 **Kikucchi : theyre just having a big dinner**

 **Kikucchi : mikumo is apparently a good enough cook, while miwa and i just so happened to be nearby**

Mikami : Sounds like fun

 **Kikucchi : shes choking miwa. he's being dragged against his will.**

Kazama-san : I'll show up.

Uttei : Same. Where should we meet up, Shiro?

 **Kikucchi : …i hate you all.**

 **Kikucchi : fine. Meet at the cafeteria place, we're heading in that direction anyway to find miwas teammates**

Mikami : I'll be there, but I might be a bit late

Kazama-san : Ah, right. You were with Kunichika, weren't you?

-0-

Kikuchihara levelled a flat stare down his phone, just a hint of betrayal mixed into his features

"… _I guess we're coming._ "

Shiori cheered at that, giving a happy peace sign with her free hand. "Success! I knew I could count on Uttei, Kazama and Mikami-chan!"

Miwa tried to take advantage of the fact that she released one of her arms from him, but her remaining arm's grip was unwavering. She only tightened her hold as he once again, choked.

Yuma tried to smother his laughter as much as he could, _really_ he did. It wouldn't do him any good to have the Neighbour-hating teen any _more_ mad at him, after all.

Chika could only glance at her teammate, take in his hilarious expression, before turning her head to the side slightly and giggling herself.

-0-

 **White gremlin : hey**

 **White gremlin : we'll be really late getting back**

 **White gremlin : kasumi-san, konami and reiji might even be back before us**

 **White gremlin : …mori?**

 **White gremlin : mori, are you there?**

-0-

I had sat him down in the living room, politely asked Jin to stay out of the room, and attempted to prepare some tea at the speed of light.

( _There_ ** _must've_** _been some kind of future where I had burned down the building in an attempt to do so, because Jin had already prepared some beforehand._ )

(When I sent him a questioning yet nevertheless thankful glance, he gave a false-nonchalant thumbs up before jabbing a finger towards the living room.)

Once I had gotten back and set down the cup in front of him… Well.

It was quiet, to say the least. For something that just lasted a few seconds, it felt like it stretched into full minutes.

Thankfully, Ninomiya seemed more than happy to break the absolutely awkward silence that had formed.

"I have no intention of dragging this on too long." His tone was sharp and I was forced to internalize my wince. "Since Amatori Chika doesn't seem to be present, I'll find her on my own time if I can't get enough information from you."

I was wholly tempted to send him a glare for that slightly pointed remark.

"I'll keep this brief."

He leaned forward slightly, eyes narrowing as he stared me down, before dropping the bomb.

"Rinji Amatori. You recognize this name… Don't you?"

My eyes widened.

( _It felt as if a spike was being driven into my head_.)

-0-

 ** _I glared down at my phone nearly every day after that._**

 ** _It got in the way of my everyday life more than something like that should've and that was something I'm not very proud to admit._**

 ** _"Mikumo, pay attention! Your grades, in particular, dropped slightly after the last test, this isn't like you."_**

 ** _(_ How do you know what I'm like? _)_**

 ** _"You ran right in front of that car to save that old lady! You must be insanely brave—although it's kind of weird when you have such an unnervingly blank face…"_**

 ** _(_ I just don't want to regret anything anymore _.)_**

 ** _"Mori. When was the last time you tried hanging out with Chika-chan?"_**

 ** _(_ I don't know. I don't know, I'm just so tired, and the days keep passing me by _.)_**

 ** _I glared at my phone._**

 ** _It was all his fault. I didn't want to feel like this, I didn't want to be dragging my feet like this! But he closed the door on our lives, and I have no idea of how to even begin putting it back together._**

 ** _I glared at my phone._**

 ** _But I never deleted that voice message. I don't know what was still tying me down to it._**

 **"… Sorry… But if you're hearing this, it means I did something dumb, Ri."**

-0-

"… He…" My throat was dry, but I pushed out the words as normally as I could. "… He used to be my tutor… And a family friend. What is this about?"

He nodded while reaching into an inside pocket, not really paying much attention to the words that came after my confirmation. I might've snapped at him if I were less bothered by this situation. Rather unexpectedly, he set down a photo down on the table between us.

I skimmed the photo for a second, unfamiliar by the figure. Though for some reason, the person being cut off by the edge of the photo seemed _vaguely_ familiar, though I didn't comment on that.

"This woman." His voice seemed to almost get… _Sharper_. Angrier, in a way that professional people would make their tone so as to not blatantly show that they were _actually_ mad. "Do you recognize her?"

I had never seen this woman in my life, I was sure. I would've recognized her unless it was only a fleeting glance with no introduction.

No name to put to the face.

( _She had a certain quality to her expression that I couldn't match any string of words to, but the closest I could get was_ …)

She was smiling dully at the screen.

( _… She seemed like the type that only had a very specific confidence in her skills. The confidence was limited, but that was the closest I could get._ )

"No." My response was short, clipped, and seemed uncaring despite the amount of thinking that was behind it.

His eyes narrowed at that, but he didn't elaborate beyond the dirty look.

"Are you sure?" He instead asked. "Look closer. She's a dull woman with a fake smile always plastered on her face."

I copied his gesture— _narrowing my eyes_ —at his description.

( _That's not what I see, but go ahead._ )

I projected as much mock-exasperation into my tone as I could. "And… Who is she? What's the significance behind these questions."

"She's suspected of a major breach of code, supplying Triggers to civilians." His tone was cold. Cold, flat, and carefully bland. "And then, according to our sources, went with them into the Neighbourhood. It's been deduced that they crossed a gate to reach the other side."

( _Another sharp pain. Another spike._ )

-0-

 ** _"… Kept under wraps… Issue…" I murmured, leaning against the backboard of my bed with my phone in hand. My eyes were furiously scanning line after line as Inukai typed as quickly and efficiently as he could, summarizing the case. "Ema… Ninomiya… Someone was under suspicion of being involved in a "trading" of sorts with the team's former sniper…"_**

 ** _My eyes were wide as my brain eagerly took in the information._**

 ** _'They think she took some Triggers and traded them with him and a few other people, before all going beyond the gates and into the Neighbourhood.'_**

 ** _(_ It's a lead. A lead on what the fuck he was getting himself into _.)_**

-0-

"With civilians?" I repeated dully. "And how certain are these so-called ' _sources_ ' of yours?"

"When her Trigger reading disappeared into the gate, there were three other Trigger readings that followed." He summarized without reacting to the slight. "None of which, were from Border. On top of that, no other agents disappeared that day."

I considered the information silently.

"That means that three—at the very least—collaborators with sufficient Trion left with her to the other side, that day. To supply Triggers to civilians is the highest-level infraction, and warrants the use of the memory eraser at HQ." His eyes strayed off to the side before he refocused on the topic at hand. "HQ immediately sent agents to pursue and capture all of them, but they were already long gone."

He looked back to me, meeting my gaze head on. "I've been investigating the possible suspects. As you can now probably deduce, Amatori Rinji is one of those suspects."

( _Another sharp pain_.)

-0-

 ** _I grit my teeth angrily, wide eyes staring at the house. My green orbs met with another man's, his narrowed eyes just barely passing over me as he held an umbrella high over his head._**

 ** _(_ The rain was falling around me _)_**

 ** _His eyes left me just as quickly, and I felt like I couldn't breathe._**

 ** _I ran past everyone gathered at the entrance, pushing aside another blonde teen as I dashed into the house. I ignored the indignant 'hey!' as I slammed the door shut behind me, prying my shoes off in an instant and running through the halls._**

-0-

( _He was there back then…_ )

"… Would I be wrong in assuming that you had some sort of connection with this woman?"

He acknowledged me blandly. "Her name is Hatohara Mirai. She was once my subordinate, as my squad's sniper." The air seemed to gain weight as he addressed her. "It's speculated that she's the leader of this little… Parade, But I know better. She's not smart enough for something like this, so it's obvious someone else was manipulating her. She doesn't even have the backbone to shoot people in a Trion-simulation , do you think she could boss people around?"

"If you find out, are you going to try convincing HQ to take some of the blame off her?" I questioned, his tone giving me mixed signals. "Since it'd mean that someone else if the ring-leader?"

"Don't be ridiculous." He scoffed. "She's just as much to blame for this whole mess as the rest of them. She allowed herself to be used by some half-baked nitwit and ended up dragging down others with her. It's disgusting."

…Hm.

(… _I wonder if Inukai would think the same...?_ )

-0-

 ** _"Rinji… What the hell is this?'_**

 ** _"A Border Trigger. A weapon."_**

 ** _(_ He'd always been fairly straightforward when speaking to me. I was usually thankful, but now it just made me mad _.)_**

 ** _'… It's a weapon. No shit, why the hell do you have it?'_**

 ** _"I made a deal with someone to get it."_**

 ** _'Who. I'm gonna punch them in the face.'_**

 ** _"Haha, I'm not going to betray their trust THAT easily. You should know me better than that by now, Ri."_**

 ** _'… I hate you, Rinji.'_**

 ** _"You only say that. But for the plan… My collaborators and I are going to check beyond the gates, get a good look at the other side."_**

-0-

The room was completely silent.

For a mere 20 seconds, Mori could fool herself into thinking that everything was okay.

( _It's not like anything, in particular, was wrong. She had dealt with most of her emotional baggage regarding Rinji after the invasion. After all, wisecracking with Yuma regarding the tragedies in their lives usually helped lighten the mood a little. So it's not like talking about Rinji was particularly suffocating at all, it's just_ …)

( _Mori felt like something was about to go_ ** _sideways_**.)

"… What do you get out of treating your teammates like this?"

Ninomiya tilted his head. "Hm?"

( _He obviously heard what had been said, just testing to see if she had the guts to say it again_.)

"I said…"

( _She did_.)

"What do you get out of treating your teammates… Like this?"

He scoffed, after a long silence. Almost as if he were… _disappointed_ , with her answer. "Is that all? A half-baked lecture on how I should treat my unit?"

"This isn't a lecture." Mori's voice was even, blank. Like she was hardly aware of what she was even saying anymore, just acting on pure instinct. "I'm genuinely curious. I'm a newer captain you see, and I'm trying to learn from my senpai, so I'd like to hear your honest opinion on this."

Her suddenly blank stare might've unnerved Ninomiya a bit. Not nearly enough though.

"You're looking for advice on how to be a captain?" Ninomiya scoffed. "That's rich. You hardly even act like a proper _Border agent_ , much less a **_captain_**."

"Please don't twist my words around, Ninomiya-san." Mori's lips pressed together thinly, eyes still blank. "I simply wanted to hear your take on being a captain. If you don't want to offer that, then I had not asked for a critique of my own abilities as a compromise."

"Then take this as the passing advice from your _better_." Ninomiya shoved his hands in his pockets sharply, slowly standing up to his full height. Mori followed him to stand up not too soon after, already sensing the apparent conversation coming to an end.

"Your better in terms of being a _captain_. Your better as a _shooter_. Your better as a _Border agent_. Someone… That is better than you in _every way_."

They slowly made their way to the front door, through the halls, past the kitchen.

Ninomiya's eyes remained trained on the younger teen.

His harsh, cold gaze clashed with her increasingly bland one.

"First, I would suggest offering another position to the cannon girl. She's obviously not fit for combat, she'd be better off either being an operator… Or not enlisting at all."

When they finally reached the door, Ninomiya gripped the doorknob of his own volition, already prepared to leave the building on a sour note.

"… And maybe you should start to take the battlefield more seriously if you even want to live." His eyes narrowed before he wrenched the door open. "Much less live to improve enough, and make it onto the away-mission team."

"Don't hit the door on your way out," Mori's uninterested reply came, just she slammed the door in his face.

-0-

I stared at the door for a few more moments, still left behind with the aftershock of his words.

 ** _"I would suggest offering another position to the cannon girl. She's obviously not fit for combat, she'd be better off either being an operator… Or not enlisting at all."_**

His… Words.

 ** _"…And maybe you should start to take the battlefield more seriously if you even want to live. Much less live to improve enough, and make it onto the away-mission team."_**

His… Advice. His genuine, honest-to-god, advice.

( _His opinion. It's just his opinion, it's just one person's perspective out of god-knows how many_ —)

This shouldn't be as bad as it is.

Why am I blanking out again—?

( _Jin trusted me_.)

My hand slid off the doorknob.

(… _Jin trusted me to… To grow from this. That's not to say it won't affect me, but if I let it become a rock that I'll trip over._..)

My breathing calmed.

( _… Rather than a step stool I can use to jump higher than before… Then how will I ever be able to grow?_ )

My hands returned, limp at my sides as I stared down at the floor.

Before I felt a hand on my shoulder.

My head whipped around, and my eyes met Jin's as he met my gaze straight on. Without hesitating at the blank undertone in my eyes.

"I'm fine," I said without thinking. "I'm sorry, I'm just thinking."

He waited a few seconds to assess me, before patting my shoulder comfortingly. "I know." And he did. "… Just… Try not to worry the others _too_ much."

I nodded, thoughts still swirling around my brain.

 ** _"—And maybe you should start to take the battlefield more seriously—"_**

( _Have I really not been taking this seriously in the least? Even with people as important as Replica and Rinji on the line like this?_ )

"Do you wanna go back to cooking?" Jin asked kindly, and I could only nod numbly.

-0-

"I can't believe you got Shuji to come with you guys," Yoneya said once again, just to mock his captain.

His captain, who was still trapped as Kazama and Shiori flanked him on both sides.

( _To be honest, he might've tried running away at this point if it weren't for Kazama_ _still being present._ )

Kodera sent his captain a slightly pitying glance, while Narasaka only nodded along with Yoneya.

Shiori beamed, while Miwa glared.

"I can't believe they got captain to come along," Narasaka repeated, just so that it got the message across.

"I get it," Miwa hissed, and his entire team watched in amusement as he buried his face further into his scarf. Tsukimi even reached over with a small, fond smile as she pat him on the head.

Miwa scoffed but he didn't dare brush off her hand.

" _He seems so much less threatening like this_ ," Kikichihara leaned over to whisper into Utagawa's ear, just loud enough to be heard by everyone in the hall.

Yoneya and Narasaka actively held Miwa back from mauling the younger agent, who only plugged his ears and turned away.

Utagawa sighed. Kazama, _if he were any lesser a man_ , might've laughed at the situation.

But Kazama was most likely one of the coolest people in all of Border. And so, he only watched on in mild amusement.

"D'you think we should head back now?" Yuma asked politely, for once not _actively_ trying to pick a fight with Miwa.

Shiori tilted her head, a smile growing. "… Eh, probably. If we don't start walking now, it'll be too late by the time we get back."

"It's relatively far in walking distance…" Mikami chuckled. "How often do you guys walk back and forth?"

"Mori and I come over usually every day, and Rindou only drives us every once in a while." Yuma sighed. "Sometimes Mori ends up staying at the branch building just because she's having an off day, but it's not that often."

Miwa was the only one that really picked up on the ' _off day_ '. Being the second person that got injured during the invasion, he could kind of relate.

( _Sometimes the pain was just so… Jarring. So sudden. For no reason_.)

( _He didn't voice that out though_.)

"I'm sure Reiji would have driven you guys if you'd just asked…" Chika added softly. "Then, again, you two are quite stubborn."

Yuma whistled obnoxiously.

"Actually, speaking of which…" Shiori's expression morphed into something more… _Worried_. "Do you think Mori's ok?"

This caught the attention of everyone that wasn't part of Tamakoma. "Why, what'd she do this time?"

Shiori absentmindedly swat the back of Kikuchihara's head for the remark. "Jin sent us off this morning, saying something like… ' _Don't be surprised if she burns down the building while you're gone_ '… Or something."

"That _does_ seem like a cause for concern." Comes Kazama's slightly sarcastic comment.

Mikami tilted her head, looking up from her phone screen. "Did he elaborate on that statement?"

"Nope, we were too busy running away." Shiori laughed nervously.

"Well, I'll help take away some of those concerns!" Yuma cuts in cheerily. "That was a half lie, so it's not likely that the building will be gone by the time that we get back!"

"But it's still a possibility?" Chika clarified.

"Yeah, I _guess_ it's still a possibility."

"… What are we getting our selves into?"

-0-

Reiji, Konami, Yotaro and Kasumi were the first ones to get back. Rindou had gotten some files to help Kasumi along with the process of 'adopting' Hyuse, and he trusted Konami and Reiji to help with whatever blanks she needed to fill in. With that group, they were finished with their task relatively quickly.

When they got back, they were the first ones to witness… This.

"Welcome back~" Jin sing-songs, twirling around on a desk chair that probably came from Rindou's room, or one of the offices. "Dinner'll be ready… _Eventually_."

Reiji deadpanned. "Why does that statement fill me with endless dread."

"This is the first time that I've seen you out of your Trion body in a while," Konami commented from beside Kasumi, the two of them right behind Reiji in the doorway. "How'd that end up happening?"

"Mikumo threatened to kick me down a flight of stairs," Jin nonchalantly replied. "Actually, speaking of Mikumo, I'd better get going."

And then he kicked off the wall, wheels sending him flying down the hall and off towards the kitchen.

The four of them paused ( _Yotaro was sitting on Reiji's shoulders_ ), still in the doorway.

"What." Kasumi muttered, and Konami couldn't help but agree.

Rindou, Karasuma, and Hyuse come by next. They'd left Border slightly after the last group had, but arrived at the building sooner since they were in a car. Hyuse was in the middle of their makeshift line, with Karasuma in the back to keep an eye on the Neighbour.

It had taken quite a while to get Shinoda and ( _mostly_ ) Kido to… ' _agree_ ' to the terms Rindou had set down. They had gone over nearly every single scenario of escape that the Neighbour might make, with Rindou patiently filling in the blanks with either;

 ** _A -_** _Mori and/or Yuma catch him. That's it that's all. Yuma has a black Trigger for heaven's sake._

 ** _B -_** _That's it. They just catch him if he tries to get away, and they live out their lives at school peacefully otherwise._

The overall simplistic plan had Kido seething, but Kinuta made up for it when he offered some of the gadgets the development department and engineers had made— _which thankfully enough_ —would suit this situation perfectly.

A Trigger fashioned as an _otherwise unremovable_ bracelet to provide a normal-looking Trion body for Hyuse, which would take away his horns for appearance's sake. A tracker which was implanted in his Trigger, so he was under constant surveillance by the two people guarding him— _Mori and Yuma_ —who would be provided with the tracker. There'd be an extra one kept at HQ if he _did_ end up getting away, where they'd send an A-rank squad after him for immediate extermination. If he didn't want to talk, then there's no point in particular to keeping him around, Kido justified.

Rindou, surprisingly enough, agreed to that. He had faith that Mori and Yuma wouldn't let the Neighbour out of their sights, so he let it slide.

After being given the items, Rindou was ( _very reluctantly on Kido's part_ ) released from the meeting room, and ready to go home.

Hyuse, being the _antisocial teen_ that he is, practically ran to the car as soon as Rindou said they were ready to leave.

Neither of them commented on it.

By the time they got home, Jin was too busy to greet them. So Konami met them at the door, quickly pulling Hyuse to the basement before heading back to meet them again.

"So, how'd it go?" Konami still looked slightly bothered by something, presumably unrelated, but still strange enough for Karasuma to decide to ask. Though he decided to answer her first, before questioning her back.

"It went relatively well," Karasuma picked up conversationally. "I'm not sure if you saw it, but there's a bracelet locked around his wrist that will blow up if he attempts to escape. That was the only circumstance Kido had us agree to, aren't we lucky?"

" ** _WHAT?!_** "

He didn't even flinch at the shout. "Sorry, that was a lie. It's just a tracker and a Trigger, no worries."

Konami nearly launched herself at him to punch him, but Rindou held her back. "C'mon guys, really? Can't we all just get along?"

" _His face can get along with my_ ** _FIST_**!"

Karasuma walked down the hall, slowly making his way away from Konami, Rindou, and the front door. '… _I guess I'll ask her later when she's not ready to kill me_.'

He didn't end up needing to ask.

And finally, the last group.

The last group, made up of Yuma, Chika, Shiori, Miwa, Yoneya, Narasaka, Kodera, Tsukimi, Kazama, Kikuchihara, Utagawa, and Mikami. 12 people in total.

"My feet are _killing_ me," Kikuchihara muttered, being one of the last ones to step through the door. "How do you guys walk back and forth nearly every day?"

Kodera looked only slightly out of breath. Miwa's old wounds were hurting himself, but he didn't let it show on his face.

Halfway through the walk, Shiori had asked Utagawa to carry her the rest of the way. Him, being the kind gentleman that he is, politely did as requested.

"Thank you for inviting us," Kazama murmured quietly as he stepped into the house, slipping off both shoes without much trouble before walking down the hall.

He only barely saw the strawberry blonde blur that ran right past him.

"YUMA! CHIKA!" Konami wailed, running right past most of the group to latch onto the teens. Both of which looked quite surprised at the suddenness of it. "HELP US, _MORI'S LOST HER MIND_!"

It wasn't a lie per se, which was what really shocked Yuma to silence. "… Uh, _What_?"

Being hurried along by Konami, the group quickly made their way to the kitchen, only to find…?

 _Thud_.

Mori lifted up the knife from the cutting board, face eerily blank as she muttered something under her breath, far too quick and quiet to be properly understood, but just loud enough to be heard.

She turned towards the door, probably hearing them come in, lifting the knife in an unnaturally (and most likely unintentionally) terrifying manner as she turned.

"… _Oh_." She muttered. " _Welcome back_."

A particularly girly scream rang throughout the building.


	18. Airplanes - INTERLUDE

_**A/N -**_ _ **It's exam week, and I have a lot on my plate, to say the least. BUT! I am doing my best for this, since it's something that I really enjoy doing, and the comments I get always make my day feel a little brighter! So I get that this chapter, being an interlude with drabbles for the most part, is kind of a let down after last week's chapter, but I'll be posting the next chapter, TOMORROW!**_

 _ **So I hope everyone that bothers to read these, has a wonderful day! I look forward to all the reviews I receive, as per usual, even though I don't actually respond to them! They mean so much to me!**_

-0-

 ** _(Just because Mori wasn't around the first time Yuma got hit by a car, doesn't mean she'd never end up witnessing it. AKA, the first time Mori ever saw Yuma's Trion body repairing itself. It wasn't exactly a pleasant evening.)_**

The first time it happened, Yuma reluctantly admits that the heart attack Mori nearly had was… _Hilarious_ , to say the least.

He hadn't looked both ways, and Mori, despite actually seeing the car, didn't move to jump towards him—as he'd told her not to earlier.

She sent him a quizzical look for that, but apparently didn't think too much on that and nodded along. The words ' _don't run after me if a car is about to hit me_ ' were just… too weird for her, apparently.

 _Whoo-_ ** _boy_** was she in for a surprise.

So the car crashed right into his side— _oof_ , _that really would've hurt if he was actually a normal person_ —and sent him flying across the street. He distantly felt the crack along the side of his face, the feeling of his arm snapping unnaturally to the side, and the ' _thud_ ' of his head against the road, and wow, that's the world that's going sideways.

There's a blur of white noise as the road explodes into chaos, in which Yuma takes his time to get up. Apparently preferring to just stay lying face-down on the ground until further notice.

He distantly recognized Mori running up to him in an absolute panic, so he decided that the time to play dead was pretty much over, and he pulled himself up to his feet.

Never let it be said that Yuma doesn't like jokes. Or pranks.

His head was still healing, and his hearing was still pretty muddled from bouncing off of the concrete, but his eyes were fine. So when he sat up and got a good vision of Mori, who looked borderline hysterical as she stood over his collapsed body, eyes wide and completely filled to the brim with worry… His amusement dampened a little.

And with hearing still bordering on completely deaf, he mutters out what he hopes can be understood as, "Sorry".

Mori watches in dawning relief as the cracks in his face sew themselves up, black Trion peeking through the tears, before picking him up in her arms and running away from the growing chaos on the street, People preparing to approach the victim of the 'car accident'.

"Never do that again, you fucking bastard", is the first thing he hears when his ears finally start to work again just a few seconds later. He gets a good laugh out of it, but he concedes that maybe playing such a dangerous prank on worry-wart Mori wasn't such a good idea.

Well, _whatever_ , it wasn't really planned in the first place. He only really thought of it _after_ he got hit by the car, and figured that at least something should come out of it.

-0-

 ** _(Tachikawa-squad talks about Mori. Because you don't come by shooters every day, and everyone can see that Izumi is absolutely ready to take the new arrival under his wing the first chance he gets.)_**

Border wasn't exactly plentiful on shooters, Kunichika knew.

It was actually a little upsetting, considering she knew just how sad that made her teammate— _the teen that was practically her little brother_ —being a shooter himself.

She could probably count all of the official-agent shooters on just her hands. Well, there was Izumi himself, Ninomiya, Nasu-chan, Kako-san, Mizukami-san, Kurauchi-san, the three from Mamiya squad… Is that it?

' _Is that really the only shooters in Border?_ ' Kunichika can't help but droop in disappointment as a pout slowly forms. ' _No wonder Kohei's so sad about that, that really_ ** _is_** _upsetting._ '

And now, we can add Mikumo Mori to the roaster… Bringing the total number of shooters up to the grand statistic of 10.

10 shooters.

In _all_ of Border.

Safe to say, Izumi had brought his grievances about this topic to Kunichika and Tachikawa many times.

It was— _sadly enough_ —to be expected though. When people first start out, they have to make the decision between ' _shooter_ ', and ' _gunner_ '. At first, shooter seems like the smarter choice. You can spread out your bullets more, and it gives you more of an advantage with making composite bullets, as you don't need to set it to an entirely different Trigger holder—like with a gunner. And even if your arms get cut/shot off, you can still fight properly.

But most people just _couldn't_ do it. That was the biggest obstacle.

They just couldn't manage it, and it was really a sad thing.

It was much easier to visualize the bullets— as well as practice with different trajectories when you had just _one_ shooting point. As in, the point where the bullets come from.

 _AKA_ , a gun in your hand.

Not to mention, it makes it much easier to aim. When you have a gun in your hand— with the Asteroid, in particular, you can take aim with the gun and shoot. But with the Trion cube-bullets, the completely different shooting points can very easily throw people off.

Most people just couldn't manage it. The fact that Mamiya squad had gotten all three of them with the ability to do that was, sadly enough, _astounding_ , never mind how low-ranking they were.

So yeah, Izumi was quite sad about this fact. The number of shooters was quite low, and the number of people that could improvise trajectories with the Viper Trigger were even lower— being _only_ Izumi and Nasu-chan.

Then Mori comes along. Kunichika ( ** _properly_** ) met her first, but the day that Izumi met her, Kunichika can just tell.

Never mind the fact that Mori had excitedly texted her about it just a few hours after the apparent snow-ball fight.

( _Mori gets unnaturally nervous about meeting new people, but also unnaturally excited about making new friends. Kunichika can't help the strange mix of sympathy and protectiveness that washes over her when she thinks about it_.)

So when Izumi arrives back at the operator room that night—he'd already asked if he could sleep over that night, considering Kunichika did it **_all_** the time—Kunichika patiently waited for Tachikawa to finish up his little moment with their younger teammate, complete up his paperwork, and get out before she made her move.

Except this plan had a very, very big hole.

That hole? _Well_.

It was bold of her to assume that Tachikawa would finish his paperwork within a reasonable time. That's all she's gonna say.

So when she was tired of waiting—but _absolutely_ sure she wouldn't be interrupting some meaningful, _heartfelt_ conversation between the two of them that they'd been putting off since the _shipwreck_ of an invasion—she threw open the door and walked in.

"Oh, Yuu!" Izumi waved from his spot beside their captain on the couch, lying down with his legs tossed over the side of the couch. "I didn't think you were sleeping over tonight, sorry about that."

"Maybe we should just pull out the sleeping bags," Tachikawa laughed, lifting his eyes up from the papers in front of him. "Cause I don't think I'm finishing this tonight." He paused, before quickly adding, " _Or_ tomorrow."

Izumi shot him a flat expression, before returning his attention to their operator.

"Shinoda can't protect you from Kido-san forever, you know," Kunichika mumbled scoldingly, stepping into the room as she collapsed onto the opposite couch, pulling a blanket around her shoulders with a pout. "You _never_ hand in the paperwork on time, he's gonna bite your head off one of these days."

"He **_has_** been pretty crabby since the invasion," Izumi chuckled. "Probably cause of you, captain."

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have gotten captured," Tachikawa pouted, and it really said something for how useful their discussion must have been, with how Izumi didn't even flinch at the mention. "… Still, what am I supposed to do? It's just _so_ _boring_ and takes so much time."

"I _guess_ we could help you, captain," Kunichika giggled, finally sitting up so that she could lean over the coffee table and check his progress. "But next time, you shouldn't procrastinate."

Tachikawa's expression turned into something more indignant, but he gave up on refuting that as Izumi sat up beside him.

"Huh, you actually got most of it done!" Izumi teased, stealing Tachikawa's pencil from him. "Colour me impressed."

 _It's now or never_ , Kunichika figures. This is one of the few times Yuiga won't be around to interrupt them, with how late it is, and the atmosphere is relatively light-hearted.

And after a while of some quiet discussing as they fill in part after part of the paperwork together, Kunichika finally finds a break in the conversation to ask.

"Kohei," She begins conversationally. "What do you think about Mori-chan?"

And he blinks, and Tachikawa blinks too because that question _did_ seem rather out of the blue.

"Mikumo?" He repeats. "… What about her?"

And Kunichika groaned, because he's acting _oblivious_ and sometimes he's not half-bad at it, but right now that's not what she's looking for.

Kunichika can only give him a half bland, half pouting expression before he laughs as a knee-jerk reaction.

"… Just promise me you won't corrupt her with your trigger-happy ways when you try mentoring her." Kunichika sighs, and she has to physically stop herself from bursting into laughter at Tachikawa's confused expression. "And try not to piss off her other teachers _too_ much."

He snickers. "She does have a lot of people looking after her, huh? There's Jin, Karasuma, and Kikuchihara." And he pauses, before grinning again. "Besides, I think she's the one infecting _others_ with her ' _trigger-happy ways_ '."

Kunichika really shouldn't be laughing at the conversation, **_or_** Tachikawa's building confusion, but she can't help it. It's just too funny.

( _She really does love her friends. Her_ ** _family_**.)

-0-

 ** _(Miwa squad was one of the squads hit the hardest by the invasion, right behind the whole Tamakoma branch. Miwa made them worry quite a bit, so they figure that this is justified.)_**

Miwa blinked, stunned.

"… I wasn't expecting you guys to be here."

"What, _really_?" Yoneya questioned, and for some reason it has Miwa feeling just a little bit bad.

He doesn't let that show though, so he huffs and continues to walk forward.

"We heard that you were getting released today," Narasaka began. "So we asked for a free day so we could meet up with you."

"Weren't you guys helping out the city?" Miwa asked rhetorically. "How'd you get him to agree to that?"

"—Anyways…" Yoneya continues, completely unperturbed. "On 3?"

Miwa blinks. ' _What?_ '

"Sure." Narasaka shrugs.

Kodera looked somewhat nervous but nodded nevertheless.

Tsukimi only laughed while Yoneya began counting down. Confusion spread across Miwa's expression as he stared at his squad members.

" _Wha_ —"

" ** _ONE!_** "

And Miwa as cut off as all four of them tackled him into a hug.

-0-

 ** _(Mori's side effect is nice at times. But she—similarly to Kikuchihara—does, on occasion, end up with some information that she would really rather not deal with. Some times are less worse than others.)_**

Nasu had been dating Kumagai for a while now.

It was almost natural, they had each other's backs, they were always there for each other, and Nasu had always looked at her friend with a fondness that Sayoko explained was something a little more than what you might have for just a friend—

Kumagai asked her out before the year was over, and Nasu had never been happier.

Hiura congratulated them many, many times, Sayoko seemed to send Nasu an almost smug— _yet also proud_ —look. Then, once the second large-scale invasion was over, They gained their fourth member that Hiura had helped them scout out, among the newly promoted B-ranks.

A sniper that had been practising non-stop, grieving over the help they had failed to provide for their friend on the battleground.

Natsume Izuho.

And Hiura found something about her that the rest of the team couldn't help but see in the both of them, and the team had grown.

In a way, Hiura was interested in making Natsume her successor for once she was forced to leave Border. There's no better person for the job, she'd insist, before launching herself at her so-called 'protege'.

A fine addition to the team, while Nasu couldn't be prouder of their squad.

But as the year went along, it became increasingly clear that they had unintentionally hidden one of the biggest impacts on their lives from just the previous year.

It became increasingly clear, that they had unintentionally hidden Nasu and Kumagai's growing relationship.

It wasn't intentional, Nasu is sure. They hadn't even realized what had been happening until Narasaka brought it up with them after they ended up telling him.

That being said, the number of people that were aware of their relationship was... _Limited_ , to say the least.

Narasaka, being Nasu's cousin, was one of the first ( _only_ ) people to be told voluntarily. He'd taken the news fairly well, congratulating Nasu with a small, soft smile that he didn't show most, before proceeding to give Kumagai the equivalent of ' _the shovel talk_ '.

( _It wasn't_ **that** _bad, Nasu insists. Kumagai politely disagrees with her on that front_.)

Kikuchihara was next, although that was less intentional and completely accidental. He'd simply overheard it being said at one point, and promised to keep it to himself... for the most part. Nasu suspects that he ends up finding out private secrets like this quite often, and must be somewhat used to this awkward situation.

The next person was Kako. She seemed like the person to know all of the gossip, Kumagai admits sullenly as Kako was walking away, Kuroe on her heels and a chuckle on her lips. Neither of them, to this day, know how she found out—For all that they had no doubt she _could_ have nagged and annoyed someone until they spilt, neither Kikuchihara or Narasaka were really the type to be bothered—And Kako has never confessed her methods of information gathering.

Inukai, _somehow_ , found out. Nasu finds him to be a friendly and understanding person though, so Kumagai held herself back from chopping off his head once he confessed that he had found out. On the up-side though, he offered a warm congratulations, and similarly to Kikuchihara, a promise to keep silent.

At this point, Nasu was comparing this whole situation to a game. ' _See how long it takes for everyone to find out_ '... Or something.

Kumagai finds it somewhat entertaining, if sometimes a bit privacy invading.

Other than that, either no one else knows, or they just haven't admitted how aware they were of Nasu and Kumagai's love-life they were. Jin is probably the only other person that is _no doubt_ aware, but he hasn't bothered them about it. So it's fine like this.

It remained like that for a while.

Until the one time that Kuga Yuma had brazenly challenged Miwa Shuji— _in front of a large crowd of C-rangers and B-tankers alike_ —To a solo rank-wars match.

Nasu recalled quite a bit of goading on his part prior to the actual challenge itself, but Miwa seemed rather wound up himself, and agreed without a word, and murder in his eyes.

The second the matches start, Yoneya—Miwa's teammate—bursts into amused laughter, falling backwards and landing himself a spot on the front row couches, beside a few familiar figures.

The rest of the team, Kodera, who was looking quite nervous but nevertheless excited to analyze the match, Narasaka, who was levelling a flat stare at his sometimes-too-easily-aggravated captain ( _Although he seemed to get angrier quicker around Kuga, which was strange_ ). As well as the rest of Tamakoma-2, Amatori Chika, exasperated yet slightly amused and resigned, and the captain, Mikumo Mori, who was yelling something unintelligible at the screen while her eyes sporadically flickered around the room... Which always seemed to happen whenever a room was relatively busy.

Yoneya only laughed harder at the captain, who was sitting right beside him.

Everyone's attention was captured by the battle happening on-screen, so was it really Nasu's fault for getting caught?

It started like this, Nasu and Kumagai were on their way out of the building, hopefully on a nice, relaxing date, and they just so happened to walk by the bustling lobby full of awed Border agents, all of their eyes glued to the screen with the smug white-haired teen, and the increasingly frustrated A-rank agent that— _dare she say_ —seemed to almost _enjoy_ the match after a while.

And it ends somehow with Nasu staring at the one beside her, all of a sudden overcome with such love and adoration for the woman that accepted her so completely, to the point where she was actually the one to confess her feelings. And it goes on with Nasu standing on the tips of her toes, surprising Kumagai with a kiss to the cheek, watching with fond eyes as Kuma's face glows a bright red, stuttering out questions that Nasu can't quite decipher as her girlfriend turns towards Nasu in shock.

And as Nasu's eyes stray over to the side while her girlfriend questions her, she can't help but meet eyes with a certain someone across the lobby who had watched the so-called 'scene' unfold with red-tinted cheeks.

Mikumo is still sitting in her spot, head turned a solid 110 degrees to Nasu's direction, her mouth agape and her eyes wide as she accidentally witnessed such a private— _and somewhat intimate_ —scene between the two teammates, and her eyes almost seem to stretch wider when she and Nasu meet eyes.

(… _Well, I suppose we have another person to add to the list of 'people in the know_ ' _._ )

Nasu waved good-naturally to the younger teen with a small, soft smile. Mikumo waves back— _awkward as it is_ —although the blush from her cheeks hasn't faded. Kumagai's face seems to get even redder when she realizes that they'd been seen.

Kumagai pulls Nasu out of the lobby and towards the first doors after this, with Nasu right behind her with a small smile on her lips as she grips her girlfriend's hand.

 _Life is good_.

-0-

 ** _(Inukai is stupidly friendly at his best, and only mildly annoying at his worst. So, Arafune figures that if he gets along stupidly well with the new B-ranker that seems to have a semi-permanent scowl—as well as a habit to get nervous around particularly impressive people… Well, there's not much he can do about it, other than try to make the kid feel at least a little welcome in the gigantic family that makes up Border.)_**

Arafune tilted his head, staring slightly downwards at the new arrival.

Dark hair pulled into a ponytail, square-ish glasses, and a scowl that seemed slightly out of place with Inukai's sunny disposition right beside it for contrast.

"… Inukai, Tsuji," Murakami waved from beside Arafune. "And… Mikumo?"

The teen nodded sullenly. Inukai himself bobbed at the motion, left arm still swung around her shoulder. His right arm was slung around Tsuji's shoulders, who was nervously standing on Inukai's other side.

Arafune didn't stop the remark before it slipped out. "You haven't brought someone else without warning us for a while, and now you brought two?"

"Sorry," Mikumo apologized for Inukai, and Arafune facepalmed.

"No, it's not your fault. He probably dragged you along, didn't he?"

She didn't quite deny the accusation, while Inukai didn't even bother looking ashamed. Tsuji was still nervously shuffling in his spot.

"I just thought Mikumo-chan should come along, and you should've figured I'd bring Tsuji-chan," Inukai sang, slowly pulling himself off of his friends' shoulders, before swinging his hands behind his head. "If it's no problem, anyway."

Now, Mikumo looked absolutely horrified at being a problem, so forgive Arafune if he only sighed and shook his head.

" _No_ , it's no problem," He turned his head towards the building they were waiting in front of, checking that the sign had been turned to ' _open_ '. "There's more than enough room."

Apparently given the _o-k_ , Mikumo relaxed in her spot. Murakami decides to approach her to introduce himself—properly, rather than the confrontational meeting they'd had the first time.

"It's nice to meet you properly this time, Mikumo," He greeted. "Congratulations on your last win, by the way."

" _Oh_ — Uh, thanks," She stuttered, nodding slightly in his direction. "It was a good match."

Murakami smiled warmly, and Inukai gave them both a pat on the back before finally taking pity on Tsuji, and pulling him by the hand away from the two.

"… I recall you two meeting in the lobby back then," Arafune begins conversationally, as Inukai and Tsuji walk up beside him. "Didn't remember you being so close though."

Tsuji tilted his head but decided to listen for an answer rather than fire off questions just yet.

( _'Tsuji has always been a quiet kid', Arafune remembers. 'And nervous around girls too, it really says something about Inukai's social skills if he managed to get both of these nervous wrecks over here without issue.'_ )

"I managed to get her number out of Kunichika-chan," Inukai admitted shamelessly. "Besides, she's easy to get along with."

Arafune recalls a scene from a few days ago when she slapped the white-haired attacker across the face with her glove.

' _Easy to get along with._ ** _Right_**.'

"… So you're just a stalker?"

" _Geh!_ " Inukai winced, falling back dramatically as he clutched his chest. "Arafune-chan, don't say it like that! We're just friends, and she's only 15!"

"You just confessed that you needed to get her phone number from someone else other than herself," Arafune pointed out with a raised eyebrow. "Does that not sound _stalker-ish_ to you?"

He hid a slight smirk behind the high collar of his jacket, watching Inukai's expression become more offended than ever before. He knows that Inukai had just been being his usual friendly-self, and so now it's just harmless teasing.

"I just didn't get to ask her for it face-to-face…" He whined sadly. "Don't make me sound like a creeper…"

"… Still, she looks like a good kid." Arafune nodded along.

Tsuji glanced between Arafune and Inukai, just as they walked into the Okonomiyaki restaurant.

Just in time too, because the second Inukai crossed the threshold, Kageura's head whips around and his eyes narrow, and his mouth pulls itself into a snarl.

" _FUCKIN—!_ "

"Good morning, Kage-chan~! Lovely day today, huh?"

Tsuji stares between Arafune and Inukai a few more times, before seemingly making up his mind.

He's sweating in his seat while he sits beside Mikumo, and he looks terrified out of his mind… But Mikumo looks similar, and despite this, they're attempting to hold a semi-stable conversation, so it can be counted as a win.

Even if Kageura is cursing under his breath whole time while being forced to sit beside Inukai after Arafune and Murakami drag him into their little breakfast/lunch meeting here.

-0-

 ** _(Border thought they could sweep the whole 'Miwa and Mori nearly died' issue under the mattress without much issue, with the invasion as a whole overshadowing it. And it would've died there, honestly. If only Miwa's classmate and his self-proclaimed friend weren't so darn good at digging up information when they really want to.)_**

Thanks to the fact that most Border agents were at school at the time that the invasion started, schools were evacuated first, and any Neighbours in the area were cleaned up relatively quickly.

Other than the Rabbits. But lucky ( ** _un_** _lucky_ ) for them, there weren't any by the schools, so…

Most of the schools stayed intact. For the most part.

So around… Just a week after the invasion? School started up again, and Nire was wallowing in misery once again.

For _crying out loud_ , she didn't even get to do anything during the invasion, because Kage was god-knows-where! And she couldn't make it to HQ to help out anyway, because she got swept up with everyone else in the evacuations.

It's all because Miwa left her behind. _Hmph_.

… Speaking of Miwa.

He's been absent since the invasion, and no one knows why.

The teacher hasn't been told anything, Nire hasn't been told anything.

She's noticed that Yoneya's been skipping school—And she **_knows_** he's been skipping school, he _can't_ deny it because he has actually shown up only once or twice. But every time she tries approaches him, he just runs away and she never gets a chance to ask him anything.

But Nire is nothing if not determined, and so she went digging.

She may be part of Kageura squad, which means that her teammates aren't the smartest, but she can use process of elimination at the _very_ least.

And so, that's what she does.

If Yoneya won't tell her, the likelihood that Narasaka _will_ is… Let's just say, next to zero. And if Narasaka is NEXT to zero, then Tsukimi herself is impossible, no matter how many sweets Nire can bribe her with.

And it's a well-known fact that Kodera is well protected by everyone in Miwa squad. If she wants to approach him, she should be prepared to be caught by Narasaka or Tsukimi.

Which she would rather **_not_** do, thanks.

Other people. What other people can she ask?

 _Azuma_. He knows practically everything. But if Yoneya is either **_A_ —** _Under orders not to talk_ or **_B—_** _Just not in the mood to share_ … Then the possibility that Azuma will tell her is unlikely. And if she asks about it, then she basically tells everyone that she's trying to look into it in the first place, and to be suspicious.

… There's really not that many options, is there? There's not much else left to do but… Hack into Border's website and… Read the newer mission reports… _Fuck_ , that's not gonna be fun.

And that's why she's here right now.

"Hikari, _what_ … What are you doing?"

She absentmindedly turned her head towards the side to shush Kitazoe, though her eyes never left the screen. "Zoe, be _quiet_."

"… That looks _vaguely_ illegal," Ema comments, leaning over to glance at the screen. "Are we going to get demoted again?"

"Hah?!" Kageura sits up from his spot where he'd been lying on the floor, and Nire feels something smack against her folded legs. "Wha—"

"Don't kick me, Kage, or I'll kick you **_all_** out of the kotatsu!" Nire shrieked, reaching over the table to slap him. "And we only get punished if I get caught!"

"… That doesn't really reassure me…" Kitazoe sighed. "But please don't get caught."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I'm already done." Nire tried to smirk, but couldn't quite get her face to work with it at the moment. If anyone notices, they don't comment.

… Miwa was in the hospital.

He was… _He almost died_.

…

If there was a small gift box on Miwa's desk the day he was due to come back from the hospital, he didn't say anything.

( _… And he didn't ask how she found out either. Best to not rat out an already grouchy Hikari._ )

-0-

 ** _(After the invasion was all said and done, Chika found herself unbearably alone as she threw herself into training. She ended up meeting three very wonderful people during that time, and she can't quite bring herself to regret it.)_**

People were avoiding them.

It was a bit of a sad attempt, with someone as perceptive as Yuma beside her taking note of it, but she didn't comment.

She didn't mind being alone at the moment. In fact, she wanted to be alone, to review and process everything that had happened.

So Yuma had dutifully left her alone, and followed soon after as he trained, and trained, and trained until there was nothing more that he could do. Chika knew he was pushing himself harder than herself, since she was one of the few that was aware of Yuma's non-sleeping Trion body, but she couldn't do anything to help him at this point.

( _She couldn't do anything to help herself, she soon realized. How could she pull anyone else out of this hole when she hadn't even climbed out herself?_ )

But the only one that could pull them out at this point, was Mori. But Mori wasn't here right now, so they had to make do until she would awaken.

Everyone continued to ignore them. To turn away out of guilt for the two teammates that _weren't_ actively seeking out comfort, and pretend that nothing was wrong.

Well, most of the people that knew she was even unconscious anyway. A good percentage of people at Border didn't even know her personally, so it was easy to not take notice of her absence, with all the B-to-A rank agents rushing around to help restore the city.

But Chika hadn't been promoted quite yet. She was still C-rank, still weak, _still helpless_ —

Still here.

She was still here, still trying, trying so hard to be strong.

And it was during that, when she met three very, very peculiar people.

"Aw, you were _so_ close!"

Chika blinked in honest bewilderment, head turning at the pace of a snail as she tried recognizing the teen standing beside her shooting booth. The teen—who was a great deal taller than her.

"Man~ Maybe you should try aiming…" Touma Isami hummed, squinting at her target across the hall. "… A little to the left? You tend to lean a little while you're aiming."

"Touma-san," She greeted, forcing a small smile to her lips in greeting. "Thank you for the advice."

He grinned in return, and shot her a thumbs up.

Chika was suddenly reminded of her similarly carefree friend that she had _also_ been avoiding since the invasion. Izuho really didn't deserve such a terrible friend.

"Though in _my_ opinion," Touma brought her out of her thoughts, pointing a finger up to the ceiling as she jolted slightly. "I think you should try making a picture next time! I'd personally start with a heart or a basic shape, since you're a beginner. But it's really fun—!"

"Touma, who else are you trying to corrupt?"

Both tall—and small—snipers swung their heads around, both pulled out of the conversation by the new arrivals. Touma looked quite put out at being interrupted though, as his mouth formed a childish pout.

" _Narasakaaaaa_ ," He drew out, watching with unhidden amusement as the brunette eye twitched. "Don't call it ' _corrupting_ ', that's not very nice."

"Is this all you had in mind when you invited me to sit with you guys, instead of at my usual spot with Kodera and Hiura?" Naraska shot back bluntly. "Because I have better things to do with my time than entertain a child."

"You shouldn't talk about Ema like that, you know…"

"Oh, did you think I was talking about him? Because the only child I see around here is **_you_**."

The blonde teen beside the No.2 sniper didn't bother giving either of them a reaction as he sat down in the booth next to Chika's. Now that she glanced around she could vaguely see the edges of Touma's own bag, slung over the side of the booth on the other side of Ema's.

' _He must have picked out the spot while I was distracted_ …' Chika winced at her inattention, head bowing unconsciously as her shoulders drooped. ' _You can't do this during a battle, or else you won't_ —'

"I was giving honest advice!" Chika found herself brought out of her thoughts once again, by the exact same voice of the No. 1 sniper in all of Border. Although his voice was nearing more of a whine than it was before. "Drawing pictures is fun, I thought it'd cheer her up a bit!"

Narasaka didn't refute that in return, which apparently, Touma counted as a win. Although the younger teen's icy glare said otherwise.

"Oh, wait!" Touma suddenly, reached over, slinging an arm over the short blonde's shoulders (who yelped in surprise) before pulling him to face Chika fully. "Amatori-chan, you haven't met Ema yet, have you! This is my great apprentice, Ema Yuzuru!"

Rather than protesting—like he usually would to being called _Touma's_ apprentice—Ema took one look at Chika, and was caught speechless for an 'unknown' reason.

"… Hello," Chika bowed, a smile going just a bit easier as she faced the young male. "I'm Amatori Chika… Pleased to meet you."

Ema's cheeks lit up a bright red as he hurriedly shoved Touma off of his shoudlers with just a _bit_ more force than he usually would have.

Narasaka could only raise a ( _slightly amused_ ) eyebrow as his ' _friend_ '—and senpai—crashed to the ground with an indignant yelp.

Chika was slightly confused, but the three snipers had helped her get through one of the hardest few weeks of her life, and so she would always be proud to call them her friends.

-0-

 ** _(It started with slight intrigue as Mori starts out, and grew into a tidal wave of protectiveness as he noticed Mori's lack of self-esteem during their training. He's proud, in a way, to see her slowly stand up for herself nowadays.)_**

Karasuma is aware that Mori is quite talented.

Tamakoma has been made vaguely aware of Yuma's past—though he feels like there may be some bits that they haven't filled in quite yet, he won't pry—as well as Chika's former insecurities when it regarded joining Border. They'd been addressed relatively early, but also not too soon within the first time they met that it'd be uncomfortable for them to share.

So Karasuma understood Chika's drive to excel, to get better so she could protect herself, and he accepted that Yuma was not only naturally attuned to combat, but also honed his skills on a war zone.

Though Mori was different.

She didn't have a particular purpose she was striving towards, because for all Replica and Rinji mattered to her, she also recognized that those two were to be Chika and Yuma's goals. So she usually ended up straying towards the side, caring just enough but coming off most of the time as maybe just a bit too little.

But somehow, despite that, she found a particular drive in simply wanting to be acknowledged by people that she could consider ' _friends_ '.

Another thing that was shared between them, was Mori's general lack of friends prior to Border.

She'd blown it off and layered it underneath many lines of conversation, trying to bury the topic so no one would recall it, but it wasn't something that she could just… throw away. He had a feeling it was more than that, but he didn't pry.

So when he found that more and more people were taking note of Mori, not just as a friend or a rival or an opponent, but maybe a student, he let it slide.

Karasuma wasn't one to get petty or jealous anyway. Though he **_was_** Mori's first teacher, he could tell she was proud to be recognized by fellow Border agents, and even, maybe strived towards it. Though the relationship she was usually aiming for was a friendship, she was more than happy— _not that she'd show it_ —to be recognized as a student.

It started with Kikuchihara, although that was a much looser relationship than something as clear cut as ' _teacher-student_ '. He was more of the person to offer advice every time she needed it, although he didn't actively hold her hand or guide her through issues. He just assessed her whenever it came up, offered honest criticism— _which, knowing Kikuchihara, was_ **really** _honest_ —and trusted her to make it through it. Mori seemed to hold a great deal of respect for him, although she holds a lot of respect for _most_ Border agents simply because she believes that they deserve it.

Karasuma wants to say that Jin was next, but he's honestly… Always been there. He might've been guiding Mori before Karasuma was, considering that Jin was the one that suggested he teach Mori in the first place. Mori held a grudging respect for the former S-rank, no matter if she knew it herself… And before the invasion, she most likely would have, although reluctantly, listened to whatever Jin said. Obviously, the large-scale invasion had put a crack in that, but that seems to be fixed fairly recently.

Next seemed to be… Izumi? That was a surprise when he went to pick up Mori the other week, after the first time that they suggested her talking with Jin after said invasion. Apparently, she had been found by the so-called… ' _idiot trio_ ', Yoneya, Midorikawa, and Izumi, and dragged into a snowball fight for the ages. He still doesn't really know what they'd talked about beforehand, but she seemed happier, and Izumi seemed fond of her now, so he considered it a win for his student.

Somehow that spread to Tachikawa, who he noticed talking with her at the festival, and accidentally overheard her asking him about 'captain' things. Mostly on tips to get better, so he decided to stop eavesdropping before he began intentionally listening in.

Her circle of friends got bigger and bigger, and eventually, he can't count them all on one hand. It's quite nice, seeing her so excited to go on to every day now that she actively has friends, and Karasuma couldn't be prouder.

Watching someone grow out of their shell, piece by piece, really is an exciting thing.


	19. No Title

_**A/N - MWA hA hahAHAHA I'M BACK WITH THAT BACK-TO-BACk UPDATE**_

 _ **This chapter can also be referred to as 'RIP hyuse's sanity you will not be missed'**_

 _ **Also, Mori, have some character-development. God, you've**_ **earned** _ **it after all the shit I put you through.**_

-0-

I think I worried nearly all of my friends with my completely blank face, but I was—at the time—too preoccupied with my thoughts to try and put enough effort in to keep up proper expressions. My mind was wandering like crazy, but unlike before, it wasn't really a bad thing this time.

 ** _"… And maybe you should start to take the battlefield more seriously if you even want to live. Much less live to improve enough, and make it onto the away-mission team."_**

Going over it now, it's not exactly **_bad_** advice. I just reacted in a negative way because I felt like he was an asshole, and therefore took all of his words to be insults. It doesn't need to be that way, I just need to look at it rationally.

There are a few different types of people that offer ' _advice_ '.

There're people like Kitora… _Or_ , how Kitora originally acted around me when we first met. This is the only type of person that I try not to pay attention to when they give out ' _advice_ ' to people. That's because, _honestly_? They're just not genuine. All they're doing is throwing around petty insults, rather than giving me honest criticism that they want me to use in getting batter.

Then, there are people like Kikuchihara, who are honest with their criticism, although blunt and relatively harsh about it. _Pretty simple_ , all-around genuine, and I can usually handle these people if I just think about their words rationally when they speak.

Then there's… _Really_ , everyone else. From people that are just _friendly_ while giving advice, to everyone in between.

At first, I thought Ninomiya was like Kitora, especially after he started insulting his former teammate. So that's mostly why I automatically took his words to be flat-out insults. He seems to hold a specific disdain for that Hatohara-girl though, so I guess it was just a bit of a special case. Everything after that, I should've started to listen to his advice properly—

 ** _"I would suggest offering another position to the cannon girl. She's obviously not fit for combat, she'd be better off either being an operator… Or not enlisting at all."_**

Oh right. That's the other thing that made me angry.

But then again, I think that might've also been twisted by his own perspective since apparently, the oh-so-hated Hatohara couldn't shoot people either… So that must've shaped his perspective on how Chika could ' _improve_ '.

AKA, in his perspective, she should just leave.

 _Now_ , I can't assume that I automatically know what Hatohara is like, because that's exactly what Ninomiya did with Chika. _But_ , I'm nearly certain that she's at least a little different from Chika since I immediately got a different vibe from her than I do with Chika. Even if all I saw was a photo of her.

They just seem inherently different. So I'm going with my gut, that even if everyone in the world believes that Hatohara should've left Border before this whole incident happened, that doesn't mean that Chika should.

I'm sticking with that point until proven otherwise. So I'll ignore that little bit for now and write it off as spiteful.

( _See, isn't this much more efficient? Going through my thought process like a_ ** _rational_** _human being, isn't it nice? I'm not even getting irrationally angry like usual, which means I'm doing something right_.)

Next piece. Or, the last piece. The only bit of advice that actually _mattered_.

 ** _"…And maybe you should start to take the battlefield more seriously if you even want to live. Much less live to improve enough, and make it onto the away-mission team."_**

That.

 _That_ … Was I really…?

I didn't really register it until now, but maybe I had been… Being _quite_ lax during the rank wars matches. I know the reason for it too, but I just didn't notice it in time to correct it.

It's because my mind won't recognize any danger.

That's why I was all high-strung and in a no-nonsense mood for the entire invasion, because I knew I was in danger. I could _instinctively_ feel it. So my body took note of that and refused to let me calm down until it was all over… Which, unfortunately for me, was around 2 weeks later when I woke back up.

The rank wars, in comparison, seem unnaturally light-hearted. I'm not in mortal danger at every single moment, so I suppose it's only _natural_ that my brain would react differently.

Not only that, but I don't really… Have something I'm _aiming_ for. Not really.

Chika wants to see Rinji and her childhood friend again. _All I want to is punch Rinji in the face and move on with my life._

Yuma wants to get Replica back, and yeah, I guess Replica's **_my_** friend too. _But I haven't known him nearly as long as Yuma has and in the end, it… That time I spent really can't compare._

I don't have a goal. A drive, beyond helping my friends. And I've read enough books to know that having a conviction is one of the most important things for long-term fighting like this.

So, I have a few apparent problems. I don't take the rank wars seriously enough. I don't have any prominent goal that's driving me. And then the obvious issue… I keep thinking that _improvising_ is perfectly acceptable during the matches.

 _… It's probably not._

And finally, the last, and possibly _biggest_ problem.

 ** _"That's rich. You hardly even act like a proper Border agent, much less a captain."_**

I need to start acting like a captain. Admittedly, that's something I'm still currently working on, but it's been on the back burner for a while, hasn't it.

It's something I need to think about more. _Immediately_.

-0-

"Alright, quick run down." Rindou sighed, laying out everything on the table, and holding up Hyuse's wrist with a loose grip. Both Mori and Yuma could see the thick bracelet wrapped around his wrist, big enough to hold a Trigger within it.

It still looked relatively bulky despite only holding the basic mechanics to create a Trion body, having completely forgone any weapons that they'd usual fill a Trigger with.

' _I guess it_ **was** _just pulled out of the engineer's hand's…_ ' Yuma sighed, glancing shortly at the vaguely irritated expression on Hyuse's face. ' _Besides, they probably didn't bother trying to refine it any further, since it seemed so impractical in the first place_.'

"So first piece of equipment, Hyuse's Trigger." Rindou gestured for him to turn it on, which Hyuse reluctantly complied to, though sending their boss a withering glance whilst doing so. "The only reason this is really here, is to hide his horns. The Trion body doesn't show them, so he can officially go to school without any issues. There's a tracker in there too, but that's not too important right now."

Rindou paused, before letting go of Hyuse's wrist. "Also, if he's out of range of **_both_** of you guys without any prior warning, it'll cause an alarm to go off, which will automatically alert HQ. I think Kinuta said the range was… _100 meters_."

Yuma shot a quick glance at Mori in between, trying to gauge her reaction to any of this. He internally frowned when he took note of her ever-bland expression but turned back to Rindou without a word.

"Next, I also managed to get permission for you two to have Triggers too," He handed off the two Triggers without issue, expression growing serious. "Now, Kido was **_really_** against this, so there are a few rules on these Triggers. First, on a day-to-day basis, they're for communicators strictly. The Trion body automatically adjusts to match your physical body at the time, so you can use it anytime and your clothes won't change… Oh right. There are no weapon Triggers on either of them. That's mostly Kido's fault, but there's still a shield Trigger for protection."

"This is _really_ inefficient," Mori muttered dryly. "What's stopping us from switching over to our usual Triggers?"

"Once you switch back to your normal Triggers, you need to abide by the usual B-rank Trigger rules. So you can only use them off-duty to fight Neighbours."

"Does Hyuse count as an enemy Neighbour?"

Rindou levelled a flat look at us. "It's _Kido_ , what do you think."

"Right, stupid question."

Yuma would've laughed at Hyuse's completely-dead-inside expression any other time. But for now, he'll settle for just… watching.

"… Shouldn't we be off to school now?"

-0-

Sitting in his seat, Yuma watched the class bustle around, as usual, crowding around the room in their own little friend groups. Usually, Mori and himself would show up fashionably late, and make it inside right before the teacher.

But for today— _and in the foreseeable future_ —They'd need to get here on time.

For now, he decided to check up on his partner. "How's it going over there, Mori?"

"… Fine. Some minor difficulties."

She didn't elaborate on that, and Yuma found himself sighing dramatically at his friend's recent behaviour.

Mori was currently trying to help Hyuse introduce himself to the teachers and stuff (also keeping an eye on him), while Yuma found himself in the classroom, virtually alone.

There was nothing to do at the moment since even the three idiots that sat behind them didn't go near Yuma anymore… Not since he beat them up, anyway. So the only thing to do now, was think.

Mori was acting weird.

He could tell the difference between moping and thinking, and what Mori is doing right now is undoubtedly thinking. About what? Yuma doesn't know. He doesn't particularly care, since the only reason he'd want to know is so that he himself can _help_ out with it, but other than that? He doesn't really doubt that Mori can handle it.

Her demeanour is **_really_** bothering him though, and it's kind of distracting, so he hopes she works it out soon. He'll just have to do whatever he can to help.

"Class, everyone please sit down!" Mizunuma calls out, and _wow_ , Yuma didn't even notice she came in. Apparently, homeroom is starting. "I'm aware you've all heard about how we're getting a new student—"

The class begins chattering again, and Yuma winces in sympathy for the teacher.

" _Class_ ," Moribayashi calls out sharply, quieting the classroom in an instant as Mori herself walks out from behind him. She walked around him blankly, making it back to her seat on autopilot as the teachers begin the introduction.

 ** _"Everything went smoothly?"_**

Mori sighed, although her lips didn't move as she sat down in her chair. ** _"As smoothly as it_ could've _gone."_**

Yuma laughs, just as the teachers called Hyuse to walk inside.

"… My name is Hyuse."

The teacher squinted dubiously at the brunette for a moment, before scribbling ' _Mikumo Ellin Hyuse_ ' on the blackboard behind him, once it was obvious the Neighbour had no intention of doing so.

There were a few loud whispers at the last name, which Hyuse _pointedly_ ignored as Moribayashi directed him to his seat. Mori and Yuma, raised their eyebrows at the middle-name, but the brunette Neighbour was stubbornly keeping his eyes trained on the seat he was directed to.

Mori snickered slightly at Hyuse's vaguely uncomfortable expression, which in turn made Yuma chuckle.

' _This is going to be a long, long year_.'

-0-

 ** _(Day 1 - Monday)_**

The day started fine.

The class was only slightly rowdier than usual, with people whispering and gossiping about Hyuse since apparently, **_every_** transfer student in Mikado is a part of Border—which, once Hyuse heard about those rumours, in particular, he put a stop to them.

Violently.

Okay, it wasn't that violent. But _damn_ if Kido didn't make a mistake letting _I-grew-up-in-a-warzone-_ **Yuma** and _I-just-don't-give-a-fuck-anymore-_ **Mori** , guard Hyuse.

Safe to say, Hyuse just cornered one of the students in the hall, and gave a few friendly suggestions ( _read: threats_ ) to stop spreading rumours around about him being part of Border.

The rumours stopped quickly after that. Almost inhumanly so. Though, since Hyuse didn't actually even lay a finger on the kid, it wasn't classified as attacking someone, so…

Mori and Yuma just stood by and watched, to say the least. It was kind of awkward, but Mori reasons that the kid shouldn't have been spreading rumours in the first place. But Mori was **_also_** the person that decided to put on her headphones and pretend she didn't notice when Yuma tried beating people up.

She told Hyuse not to threaten people again, which he shot her a glare for, and then they continued.

( _Yuma silently leaned over to Hyuse later on, whispering a quiet 'Don't do that again, she's too lost in thought to care right now, but next time she'll get mad_.' _Hyuse shot him another glare._ )

Yeah, they're not getting along… _Fantastically_.

But they sat together at lunch, this time deciding to find a spot outside so that they can leave Chika and Natsume alone on the roof.

It's when they're walking across the courtyard, that Hyuse finally speaks once again. For the first time since he was forced to introduce himself by the teachers and his _now-adopted_ sister.

"I'm sitting here."

Yuma pauses.

He wanted to voice out the fact that they don't really care _all_ that much, before he realized that, yeah, they might care a little, because they need to sit in the same spot.

"… Sure, _whatever_." Mori sighed, before tumbling towards the ground, rolling over, and dropping her school bag on her face. "… I'll be right here."

Hyuse nods, before somehow still managing to look completely natural while climbing up the tree that Mori situated herself under.

Yuma glances around questioningly, staring at the two teenagers awkwardly.

…

Hyuse sits up in the tree while pulling out the small sandwich he had been given for lunch, still warily scanning the area as he bit into the snack.

"… _Mind if I join you?_ "

Hyuse jolted at the sudden voice, head whipping around as Yuma pulled himself up onto the branch beside Hyuse.

-0-

 ** _"Psst, Mori,"_** Yuma questions through the communicator. **_"What's the answer to 4-C?"_**

To Mori's credit, she didn't even flinch at the sudden noise, which she was getting better at. **_"… I'm surprised you got that far."_**

 ** _"I don't think I answered any of the previous questions correctly, but whatever."_**

She sighed outwardly, before tossing an eraser over to his desk. It bounced off of the surface wildly before he caught it single-handedly without breaking composure.  
 ** _  
"The answer is 184. Besides, you can't just cheat answers off of me now that the teachers have no way of knowing that we're talking,"_** Mori glanced back down at her paper, absentmindedly scribbling out the next answer. **_"… Maybe we should just keep the communicators off during the day unless it's an emergency."_**

 ** _"No,_ please _don't cut me off…"_** Yuma leaned forward to set his chin on the desk already pouting childishly. ** _"I'll get lonely because Hyuse doesn't talk, and you refuse to pass notes with me if there's nothing important to talk about…"_**

Mori sighed under her breath, digging the heel of her palm into her head.

Yuma spent most of the last period cracking jokes in between asking for answers—the latter only stopping after a few minutes of failed explanations without visuals.

It was _hard,_ trying to guide someone else through a complicated math problem without being able to directly interact with them beyond speech.

Mori actually looked like she wanted to commit murder a few times, unfortunately catching Hyuse's questioning eye. Yuma only waved him off with a chuckle, and eventually, the bell rings.

Mori throws the bag over her shoulders, grabbing the edge of Hyuse's uniform sleeve and Yuma by the back of his collar, before dragging them through the halls forcefully.

They made it to their lockers and out of the school before they could notice the newly-formed hoard of girls attempting to follow them.

Or rather, _trying to follow the new kid._

Once they were off school property, Mori let go of both males, which caused Hyuse's scowl to lessen, but not completely go away. Yuma idly wondered if he ever stopped scowling.

"Did you _need_ to drag me?" He hissed, apparently now getting the idea that neither of the Border agents would punish him for saying anything that wasn't _too_ out of turn, which Yuma was beginning to regret.

"I didn't want to stay there long," Mori only excused, pulling her phone from her pocket before beginning to walk down the sidewalk off towards Tamakoma. "The students are really annoying, and I have plans for this afternoon anyway."

"Wait. I didn't hear about this," Yuma mumbled, just loud enough for the three to hear. " _Wait_ , are we part of these plans? Or are you ditching me with guard duty?"

Hyuse once again scowled— _Buddy, your face is going to_ ** _stay_** _that way_ —at the words ' _guard duty'_. Being reminded of his captivity wasn't pleasant, apparently.

"I made arrangements for yesterday, but couldn't leave the building at the time that I needed to because of Jin." She shrugged, headphones around her neck bobbing at the motion. "We changed the plans for today 'cause of that, sorry."

"You didn't even warn me?" Yuma whined. "Should I just wait back at the branch? I thought we were going to practice for a little afterwards…"

"I did say that, so I'll make sure to be back by around… 7 or 8," Mori reasoned, although she knew that Yuma was mostly joking around. "I'll drop my bag off at the building, before leaving Hyuse with you and anyone at the branch. Don't die of boredom."

Yuma shot Mori a betrayed expression, while Hyuse gave his own dirty look.

What a _fine_ trio they are. Perfection.

-0-

 **Four-eyed weirdo : im on my way**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : which lobby are you in again**

Cloud buddy : Lobby 1.

Cloud buddy : Just because.

 **Four-eyed weirdo : that's fair.**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : ok but serious talk,, I left around 10 minutes ago, so if I start sprinting again ill be there soon**

Cloud buddy : Wait you were running?

Cloud buddy : You ARE running? All the way to HQ? Dude, you're gonna die.

 **Four-eyed weirdo : you can't stOP ME**

-0-

I tucked away my phone in my pocket again, preparing to sprint towards HQ once again.

Good thing I was in a Trion body or all this running would start to make my scars ache again. Not that Inukai knew about either, but whatever. I'll switch back to my flesh-and-blood body when I make it to the front doors.

But I'd thought about it all day. Primarily during lunch, when it was quiet and I could focus more ( _though I'd forgotten to eat in the process, so I'm feeling just a little hungry right now_ ), so I decided that I should get some outside opinions before moving on to start improving myself.

First, I needed to talk to some people that had what most people would consider a ' _good_ '—in a textbook sense—captain. That leaves a few different squads, like Kazama squad, Arashiyama squad, _probably_ -Ninomiya squad, Azuma squad, Arafune squad, and Nasu squad… All units with captains that were decently level-headed, and smart in a tactical sense. I wanted to get some input from anyone in those squads specifically, which was good since I was currently meeting up with Inukai at this exact moment.

Next, I needed to talk to some captains—in general, this time I'm not going to discriminate. I could probably go to Tachikawa about this since I've already asked him about the subject before… Although I didn't really get a good answer at the time, the conversation was relatively insightful. After that, I'll just have to see who else is at HQ and double-check who I can approach without any conflict. Though I might need to do the rest of that tomorrow, since I don't really want to ditch Inukai when he was the one I originally made plans with.

I'll most likely end up doing all this after the matches with Inukai. But he's been a great help, and I still need to talk to him about the Hatohara/Rinji issue that he had asked about ( _especially since I didn't get around to telling Ninomiya_ ** _anything_** _I knew about it, before he stormed out_ ), so I'm going to be quite busy.

Also, I need to finish all of this up before 7 _at the latest_ , since I still have somethings I need to go over with Yuma when I get back. I want to try out the split-vision again since it really was something useful, no matter how nauseous it made me… Though I still need to bring Hyuse back home in time for dinner, cause I haven't been hanging out with mom very much lately. Then, for tomorrow, I'll borrow some of the logs from Shiori, since I really want to check out our next opponents—

 ** _"… And maybe you should start to take the battlefield more seriously if you even want to live. Much less live to improve enough, and make it onto the away-mission team."_**

—I need to start working harder. Much, _much_ harder.

( _I want to be useful. I refuse to let my team be left in the dust, especially not when it'd be_ **my** _fault_.)

I grinned while continuing to sprint down the sidewalk.

-0-

"Eh, she's off already?" Konami leaned through the doorway, still in her school uniform. "You three just got here though…"

"She said she had plans or something at HQ," Yuma explained, slipping off his shoes while nudging Hyuse to _stop loitering grumpily around the front door_. "On the other hand, Konami, could you help us study?"

Hyuse levelled a flat stare in his direction. "I don't need help."

" _God_ , your face is going to stay like that one of those days. Besides, in case you forgot, I still need to stay in the same room as you for guard duty. Though I'd bet my Trigger that you actually need help with language class, since you weren't paying attention during that period."

Hyuse's stare intensified, already half-way to a venomous glare.

"You don't need to look at me like that, do you? Mori's the one that saw you doodling, so I can't _completely_ take credit for catching you ignoring the teacher. Besides, neither of us snitched, you should be _grateful_."

Hyuse's hand twitched violently, as if he were tempted to reach for a sword at his side. The sight made Yuma laugh, loudly.

Konami glanced between the two of them, before sighing heavily. "Fine, _fine_ , I'll help you two. Shiori only has a few minutes before she'll be back from school though, so she can help with tutoring too."

"Can we get some afternoon snacks while we work? Maybe I can bribe Hyuse with taiyaki so that he doesn't _brutally_ murder me."

Hyuse was greatly tempted to attempt strangling his only remaining ' _guard_ ', but thankfully managed to refrain.

('It's only the first day', _Hyuse repeats in his mind_. 'It's only the first day of this, you can't be snapping already.')

-0-

"Ah, Miku-chan!" Inukai waved, already in his Trion body— _which, wow, how can anyone run around in a_ **suit** —with a smile on his face. "You really _did_ run all the way here, impressive."

"I said what I meant, and I meant what I said," I joked, a smile already forming. "Did you want to fight first, or talk?"

He grinned. "Isn't the answer to that, a little… _Obvious_?"

I sighed, already walking towards one of the solo rank wars booths. "Alright, just don't expect too much outta me." I ended up switching from my flesh-and-blood body to my battle Trion body halfway across the hall, just so that I didn't need to later.

I stepped into the booth, absentmindedly noticing the nearest open room being a few doors down. Without another second, I shut the door behind me.

"… Actually, I've only ever used these _once_ before." I laughed lightly at the thought, stepping up to the panel. "Do I even still know how it works?"

I tapped the screen twice, watching it light up with a nearly endless list of points and weapons.

I scanned the lists for a few minutes, before laughing dryly as I unconsciously leaned backwards into the chair.

"… _Goddamnit_ Inukai, you didn't tell me which one you were."

Thankfully, I didn't need to ask _or_ guess. A small pop-up formed in the corner of the screen, before expanding and moving to take over a small section in the middle.

 ** _'You have been challenged.'_**

A raised eyebrow. "… That's not _ominous_ in the slightest."

Correctly assuming that the ' _challenger_ ' was my blonde friend, I clicked the ' _accept_ ' button, as the computers synced up and connected our communicators.

 ** _"Do you have a specific battleground you want to lose on, Mikumo-chan?"_** Inukai's joking, yet smug voice rang out, and for once… I thought twice about saying something self-deprecating.

"… You know," I began instead, a small grin forming. "Maybe... I'll make you eat those words instead… Inukai- ** _kun_**."

I didn't end up seeing the sudden beam on his face. I couldn't, being in separate rooms. But somehow, I could practically _hear_ the excited grin on his face, even though that wasn't how physics worked.

-0-

"… That kind of sucked." I laughed, taking a quick look at the match scores. "Man, I _really_ suck."

 ** _"You seemed like you were kind of pumped up, Mikumo-chan,"_** Inukai's voice rang out as I rocked back in forth in my chair, the two of us taking a quick breather from our previous non-stop matches. **_"I think that 13 - 7 is still pretty good, even if you lost. Don't you know that I used to be A-rank?"_**

After 10 rounds and during a break, I did end up telling him mostly everything I knew about the Rinji-issue so that he could pass on the information to Ninomiya another time—as well as a watered-down version of what happened yesterday with Ninomiya.

 ** _"Wait, so Amatori Rinji actually told you about this? Like, he told you pretty much_ everything _he was planning."  
_**

"Yeah, pretty much. It was kind of a dumb plan, he's such a moron for going through with it…"

 ** _"… Wow, other than naming everyone else that was involved, and the day that they'd leave, he basically told you everything!"_**

"I guess Ninomiya has one of his culprits, huh?"

 ** _"Well, there's not much else we can do about it, since the guy's already gone… But, I guess it's nice to know who's responsible. I'll pass this on to Ninomiya-san, if that's okay with you…?"_**

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead."

He could tell that the first issue was somewhat emotionally-taxing, and so he made up for it by sharing a few of his own problems with Hatohara herself… Which somehow ended up in us sharing funny stories about the two absentees. It was easier to talk about this stuff if you made light of it, although not **_too_** much. Just enough to make you feel like everything's alright.

We went back in for 10 more rounds after that, and here we are.

"I did hear something about that… A-rank, huh?" I murmured. "What rank were you, anyway? I heard Kageura squad used to be No. 6, which is pretty cool in hindsight."  
 ** _  
"Take a guess,"_** He sang, and I laughed lightly at that. **_"But honestly, you did good. Want some feedback?"_**

( _I've been laughing a lot today. Something's obviously changed with me, and I'll pray that it doesn't change back._ )

"If you don't offer the advice in a petty and passive-aggressive way, then sure, I'll listen," I joked, and thankfully, he took the slight against his captain in stride.  
 ** _  
"Well, first of all, you don't really have a set fighting style,"_** He began conversationally, and I made sure to take note of everything he was saying. ** _"I guess it's not relatively important since there are_ tons _of people in Border that make their way up the ladder, just by being flexible in different scenarios. But when I'm fighting against you, it's kind of clear to see… You don't really know how to make use of your status as a shooter."_**

He paused, and I raised an eyebrow before he continued. **_"… You_ are _a shooter, right? I can't quite remember your Trigger sets."_**

"I used to have a Scorpion, but I took it out last round." I hummed, resting my chin on my hand. "On one set, I have Asteroid, Meteora, Shield, and Spider… And on the other side, I have Hound, Viper, Asteroid, and the Bagworm."  
 ** _  
"So, a pretty well-rounded shooter set, nice. I did notice you use the Spider during your last match, even if it wasn't very much._** " He hummed, and I heard his chair creak as if he were rocking back and forth. ** _"But I see you have two Asteroid, one on each side? I don't think you could make composite bullets, so any particular reason for that?"_**

"Just so that I could use it _while_ also using a shield _or_ a Bagworm," I commented. "But what were you saying earlier…?"

 ** _"Right, that."_** I could hear the smile in his voice while he spoke, and for a moment I wondered how he could smile nearly all the time. **_"You like to get close-range most of the time, which isn't really what shooters are_ supposed _to do. It kind of looks like you used to be an attacker… But that's weird since you only joined Border a short while ago, didn't you?"_**

"Yeah, around a month or two ago." I grinned at the memory, still slightly fond of the first time I stood up to Kitora. "But I _did_ practice swordsmanship for a little before that, since joining Border had been a goal of mine for a while… So I have some minor skills in that department."

 ** _"Oh, that… Actually, that kind of makes more sense,"_** He laughed. **_"Anyway, you like to go close-range like an attacker, but in the end… Shooters aren't really supposed to do that. The only thing you can block any attacks with is the shield. Which isn't all that versatile compared to… Let's just say, a Kogetsu, which you can use to both attack and defend, and be held in your hand. You could probably do the same with a Scorpion, but they're fragile, so not too often."_**

"It's hard to find out strategies for a shooter with my specific style though, since I'm usually as mobile as possible," I commented. "There's not very many shooters in Border in the first place, finding someone that overlaps with my own style, in particular, is difficult."  
 ** _  
"Isn't Nasu really mobile during her matches?"_** Inukai asked questioningly. ** _"You could check out some of the logs from her matches, you might be able to learn some strategies from her in particular. Most other shooters aren't as quick to move around… Though I'm not sure about Mizukami from Ikoma squad, maybe him too…?"_**

"I feel like if I try looking at other people's styles," I grumbled although I was more frustrated at the situation than the person I was speaking to. "… Then I might end up unconsciously copying them, and that's the **_last_** thing I want to do…"

 ** _"Ah, you're probably right."_** Inukai agreed sympathetically. **_"I guess the only option is to just keep at it, and develop your own little strategies in that regard…"  
_**  
Though, over the course of the entire analysis and following conversation, I couldn't help the slight shock that made its way into my eyes as I stared blankly at the monitor.

"… You're _surprisingly_ good at analyzing, Inukai-kun."

 ** _"Ah, you're sticking with the '-kun'…? I guess I_ was _asking for it, but still, I'm 3 years older than you…"_**

I laughed, _again_.

-0-

"… I don't get it."

Konami groaned, before slamming her face against the desk.

Shiori's eye violently twitched underneath her glasses, and Hyuse— _the_ ** _prisoner_** —actually took enough pity on them to get them some water.

"How does Mori have the patience for this?!" Konami shrieked, holding her head in her hands.

From the doorway, from Hyuse's perspective, he sullenly admits that the room looks like a scene right out of one of the dramas that Yotaro tried showing him. With Shiori sitting with perfect posture, book and pencil in both hands, eye twitching violently underneath her glasses. Konami, switching between screaming in frustration and slamming her already red forehead against the coffee table they were all spread out around. Yuma, sitting across from them, duckface perfectly in place, holding a textbook loosely in his hand, the only sign of effort being the slightly creased forehead. Textbooks, pencils, erasers, notepads and stray worksheets completely spread across the table, some even slipping off the surface and falling to the floor.

Hyuse distantly recalls Karasuma arriving back at the branch after school and passing by the room to check what the commotion was. Hyuse remembers him standing in the doorway with horror buried deep in his eyes for a few brief moments, before he closed the door and abandoned them to their fate.

Upsettingly enough, the usually irritated Neighbour can't even blame him. He only wishes that he could have left _too_.

And Hyuse sets down a few glasses ( _which he had to ask Jin to grab, infuriatingly enough, because he couldn't leave the room without supervision_ ) on the very few empty spaces on the table, which Shiori takes with a grateful nod when there's no space around her area.

He settled down on the couch with his own glass, already having finished his own homework, watching on with pity in his eyes as the two girls try to hammer some academic theory into Yuma's thick skull.

Hyuse sighed.

('It's only the first day', _Hyuse repeats in his mind,_ ** _again_**. 'It's only the first day of school, you can't be snapping already.')

But it's weaker this time, because Hyuse is _slowly_ starting to crack with all of the chaos. He's not shut inside the basement anymore, but he's starting to wonder if that would've been the _kinder_ alternative.

-0-

Somehow, when the two of us had stepped out of the booths to regroup, grab some drinks, and get a larger breather this time, we stumbled across another familiar face.

"You guys were fighting?" Kikuchihara raises an eyebrow, still leaning against the wall lazily. "What's the score so far?"

"… 20 - 10?" I muttered questioningly, turning to Inukai.

"19 - 11," He corrected with a grin. "You were trying to switch your fighting style around a little at the end there, but you pulled off a win for the last round."

"Impressive enough," Kikuchihara interrupted, glancing around quickly before shooting a small and _seemingly_ -reluctant thumbs up to me. "Having fun?"

"I sure am," I replied at the same time that Inukai ended up saying, "Got a reputation to keep, Huh, Kikuchihara?"

Kikuchihara was too lazy to do anything more than shoot Inukai a dirty look. Inukai laughed it off easily though, so the former eventually looked away with a huff.

"So, how's your day going, Kikuchihara-senpai?" I asked conversationally, watching the back and forth interaction between the two completely different characters from a nearby couch against the wall.

"Why does he get called ' _senpai_ ', and I don't?" Inukai complained under his breath. "He's 16, so I'm obviously older…"

"Defence duty was kind of a mess since Kazama and Mikami were absent, but we managed," Kikuchihara continued, unperturbed. "… How're you?"

"I'm good, though today's been kind of a blur." I laughed ( _again_ ). "Yuma and I had to show around a new student in our class, but other than that, nothing's really happened today."

Kikuchihara picked up on the hidden meaning, eyes gleaming before he nonchalantly nodded.

Inukai, who had preoccupied himself with buying some drinks while we were talking, turned back around and handed me an orange soda. "… You _do_ like this brand, right? I remember, this is the one you gave me around a week ago."

"Oh, thanks." I nodded towards him, gratefully accepting the can… before briefly giving it a slightly suspicious look. "You didn't shake this to get back at me, did you?"

" _Mikumo-chan!_ " He reared back, clutching his chest with a hand dramatically. "I would _never_!"

I gave him one last suspicious glance, before taking his word for it and pulling the tab. It didn't explode in my face _thankfully enough_ , and I breathed a small sigh of relief that both teens probably heard within the mostly empty hall.

Kikichihara snorted, and Inukai gave a mock-offended expression.

(… _Yeah, they_ definitely _heard_.)

"… Wait, I almost forgot." I lifted my head up, having to tilt my head up to meet their eyes due to me being the only one to sit down. "Can I ask you guys a few questions about some random stuff?"

Inukai gave an encouraging smile and Kikuchihara raised an eyebrow, signalling for me to go on. Which I took as a good sign.

"… You guys both are… _Happy_ with your squads, right? Can you describe what exactly you think makes your captain a ' _good_ ' captain?"

It seemed like a loaded question.

I didn't realize how heavy their responses might be when I was tossing the words around in my head, but now that I had voiced it out loud… I felt like I might have been asking a lot of them, depending on their circumstances.

"Only if you're comfortable," I added quickly, trying to make it clear that I wasn't in **_dire_** need of answers any time soon. Not at someone else's expense, anyway. "I just kind of… Wanted to know. I've been thinking a lot about it lately."

And the two of them stared at me for a few more minutes, before the brunette sighed heavily and glanced at the blonde agent.

"… Did you want to go first, or should I?" Kikuchihara muttered questioningly, taking a few steps around to sit beside me on the bench.

Inukai shrugged, his easy-going grin sliding back into place as he leaned back and landed comfortably in the spot between the brunette and the edge of the bench. "You can go first, I'll just listen… _For now_."

I couldn't help the slight lift of my head.

-0-

 ** _"Hey, I heard your side effect is enhanced hearing."_**

 ** _"… Who are you? Your kind of full of yourself, for a shrimp…"_**

 ** _"I'm Kazama Soya, 19 years old. A pleasure to meet you."_**

 ** _"Nine… Nineteen years old?!"_**

 ** _"You're Kikuchihara, right? When you're a full-time agent, I want you to join my team."_**

 ** _"… My side effect is lame and boring. It won't help you, so you might as well just go find someone else more interesting."_**

 ** _"I'll be the judge of that. We_ need _you."_**

-0-

"Kazama-san is someone I can recognize as a captain…" Kikuchihara began, leaning back onto the couches back-cushions. "… Well, there's a lot of reasons, but I think that the first thing I noticed, was..."

Kikuchihara paused, eyes sliding up to the ceiling as he thought.

"He always had an idea of what would happen next."

I blinked at the… Well, mostly the _wording_ of it. But I knew better than to interrupt, not when even someone like Kikuchihara was struggling—even just a _little_ bit—to think of the proper words to say.

Kikichihara sat up again, sucking on the straw of his drink before he continued. "Kazama-san, when he first approached me because of my side effect… He told me exactly what would happen. I remember his words very clearly… ' _we'll share your audio information via transmission, you'll be the ears of the squad. Other squads rely on sight for 80-percent of their perception. We'll have an incredible advantage over them_ '… And then he invited me to join his team." The teen took a small breath. "And that's _exactly_ what happened. Although at first, it was really disorienting, we knew that the shared audio would give us a large advantage over other squads. So Kazama-san pushed us and never thought _once_ that we'd let him down."

Kikuchihara gave me a long pause to process the information. I almost forgot that Inukai was there, to tell the truth. He was being _so_ quiet.

"… After that, it was clear that Kazama-san had a lot of faith in our abilities, and once we started climbing the ranks… Well, it was just like he said before. So, when Kazama-san said we'd improve that time, and he made good on his word… I've really never doubted him again after that. It's things like that, that make you feel like the captain is someone you can count on, _without a doubt_."

… I found it really difficult to speak after that.

 ** _"Oh, now that's horrible. Fuck, maybe we should just give up. This was a stupid idea."_**

… He didn't give up on the idea. He kept pushing forward with it, because he had faith in their abilities, because he had faith in his own abilities… He made sure he cemented himself as someone who was self-assured, who knew what they were doing. Someone they could count on.

… Hm.

"That was a good speech, Kikuchihara-kun!" Inukai clapped. And although it seemed mocking at first, I could tell without a doubt that it was genuine.

I could tell that Kikuchihara noticed it too, but scowled at him anyway to keep up appearances.

"Should I go next…?" Inukai asked. "I think I've had long enough to think about it, but I don't really know what to talk about… Other than the fact that Ninomiya comes off as a _really_ self-assured person! It's hard arguing with someone like _that_."

I sighed heavily at his words, although there was a small grin dancing on my lips.

Inukai could only laugh at my expression. Kikuchihara might've snickered a little too, but I couldn't tell in the end.

-0-

 ** _(Day 2 - Tuesday)_**

Mori and Hyuse had to wake up earlier this time, since they still had time to go over to Tamakoma and pick Yuma up ( _who,_ despite _apparently having a house that he had paid for, still liked to stay at the branch building_ ), but once the three were together, they were off.

"It's too early," Yuma yawned jokingly, and Mori snickered at him even though she too felt like crap due to sleepiness.

Hyuse swayed on his feet uncertainly, although he stubbornly kept his hands in his pockets and his eyes forward despite the early hour.

"… I packed some cheesecake that I made the other day," Mori muttered, reaching into her bag at the same time, before pulling out two plastic wrapped triangle slices. "I brought one for you, so you can have it for breakfast."

"Is this even remotely healthy?"

Mori laughed, unwrapping her piece and shoving it in her mouth. " _No_ , not really."

Hyuse rolled his eyes.

But he did end up eating his own piece after a few minutes of watching the two other teens enjoy the sweets.

The morning, other than that, was relatively quiet. Setting aside the unhealthy breakfast, the three were mostly quiet while walking. Taking up their usual positions of the two guards on either side of Hyuse, while the brunette teen was just trying to pretend for a few minutes that he wasn't _really_ a prisoner at this exact moment.

Mori's noticed that Hyuse—despite how much he protests that he _hates_ being here and acts like an _angsty_ teen—hasn't really made a move to escape. Not in the slightest. She's noticed him glancing around warily as if he's expecting to be attacked or killed at any moment, but there's nothing indicating that he's looking for an escape route.

She decides that she's unsure of how to feel about that, as she walks into the classroom first, already bolting towards her spot around the middle—but also further back in the classroom. The two boys accompanying her came in as well, although at a much slower, casual pace.

And for a while, watching on with boredom as the class slowly fills up, Mori realizes that something feels _off_.

Mori shuffled in her seat, feeling like something was oh-so-terribly wrong as she finally started to gain awareness of her surroundings.

' _This is what I get for waking up so early and staying up so late, huh?_ ' Mori inwardly sighed, sitting up straight in her chair. ' _Being so sleepy that I can't even be semi-aware of my surroundings. Lovely_.'

She tapped her desk impatiently a few times, before consciously turning her communicator on as she turned her head towards the side uncertainly. **_"Yuma, is it just me, or is someone watching us?"_**

 ** _"Oh, now_ you're _the one using the communicator for no reason."  
_**

 ** _"Yuma,"_** Mori looked around again, and this time Hyuse took notice too. **_"I'm serious, I feel like someone's watching us. Or one of us, it's entirely possible that someone is still holding a grudge against you for beating them up… At some point."_**

Hyuse tilted his head at them, brow furrowing as he saw them completely silent, yet somehow conversing.

' _Must be those communicators that the 'boss' mentioned during the equipment rundown_ ,' Hyuse reasoned mentally, before turning back to face the front again with a blank stare.

Mori glanced back at Hyuse. **_"Maybe someone's just staring at Hyuse since he's a new kid… Actually, speaking of which, can we somehow get Hyuse a communicator too?"_**

 ** _"Whaaaat…?"_** Yuma stretched out over the side of his desk lazily, not completely unlike a feline. **_"Is Mori—not only_ condoning _talking during class time—but also wants Hyuse to be a part of the group?"_**

 ** _"… You know what, sure, let's go with that. I like to live like on the edge."_**

 ** _"I'm such a good influence on you."_**

 ** _"Those are_ not _the words I would be using in this particular instance."_**

-0-

Turns out, Mori didn't need to go looking for the person that was _staring_ at them nearly all morning. She didn't even get a chance to leave the classroom at the start of the lunch period.

Because they came to them.

(… _Well, it started with a love letter_.)

Turns out Hyuse is really popular with the ladies in their school, which is kind of _hilarious_ considering the slightly constipated look on his face when the girl confessed to him in front of the whole class.

It didn't really help him much that his two ' _guards_ ' ended up backing up to watch the spectacle from the back of the class with matching grins, although Yuma's was slightly eviler. Mori just seemed amused, which Hyuse found absolutely _infuriating_ as his eyes slid back and forth through the classroom, trying to find an escape. He obviously didn't end up finding it, judging by the subtly horrified expression on his face.

Mori _actually_ took pity on him after seeing that expression and promptly walked through the crowd, grabbed his wrist, turned back around to grab Yuma, and tore through the school as if the devil was chasing her.

Which, with the sudden hoard of fangirls that started chasing them was any sign, wasn't too far off.

This time, when Mori dragged Hyuse along, he didn't scowl or struggle, because _god don't leave me here with these goddamn_ ** _insane_** _people_ —

-0-

 ** _"So, you guys skipped school."_**

Mori nodded, phone held against her ear as she sipped on some soda. "… Yeah, I guess we did."

 ** _"… Well, I… I guess it's too late to go back now…?"_**

"Probably," She agreed, looking around to glance at the two people with her. Both Hyuse and Yuma were sitting on nearby benches, lunches and drinks from a nearby vending machine on their laps, with Hyuse looking slightly sullen due to the prior events. Yuma had gotten bored of teasing him about it around half an hour ago but hadn't quite completely given up on the idea of annoying the older Neighbour.

Hyuse was just trying to pretend that the white-haired teen didn't exist.

 ** _"Should I come to pick you guys up, or can you guys walk back?"_**

"Ah, I think…" Mori paused. "… Actually, this might be perfect. I need to go grab something and then I need to go back to the branch office before Chika returns from school. Though I don't want to completely ditch Yuma with guard duty, so I figured they could come with me… I'll get them to carry the bags."

 ** _"Alright,"_** Rindou's voice rang out from the phone. **_"Have fun."_**

"Thank you," Mori said, before hanging up.

'.. _. After all, it's Chika birthday. I might've already gotten her a present, but I might as well help Yuma pick out one too, before it's too late._ '

Mori paused for a moment, before taking pity, and sending a quick text to Kizaki to warn him about his apprentice's birth date. She got a quick reply of ' _Jin already told me, but thank you_ ,' before she was finishing up her lunch with a smile.

-0-

Chika's birthday didn't raise too much of a fuss, although there were many indignant yells at the beginning of ' _why didn't you tell us ahead of time_ ' as everyone returned back from school with bags of streamers, party hats and more.

Jin ended up taking multiple pictures of people walking in, to colourful birthday banners and decorations, as well as Chika's slightly embarrassed, but nonetheless grateful expression. Mori had been in the kitchen at that point with Kizaki, and he figured that those two in particular would appreciate the photos in the future.

Somewhere in the corner of every photo, was Hyuse _completely bland-faced_ , with a party hat shoddily tied around his head ( _presumably by Mori and the little white-haired gremlin who shall not be named_ ), with a party popper in hand while he looked absolutely done with life.

There was another photo of him shoving Yuma's head into one of the cakes—apparently at the end of his wits when some of Yuma's antics had gotten to be too much to bear. That photo in particular, Mori ended up making her lock screen with a loud _wheeze_.

( _There was a not-so-subtle, but also incredibly smug high-five exchanged between Mori and Jin after he took that photo, and everyone was left wondering if_ ** _maybe_** _they should've left the two to keep avoiding each other_.)

Chika couldn't stop laughing. It was a fun evening, where she received many small stuffed animals from both Yuma, Mori, Jin and Kizaki—the only ones to actually know about the occasion in time to bring presents.

She was surrounded by people she loved and cared for, and even if Rinji was not yet present among them… She was undeniably happy.

-0-

 ** _(Day 3 - Wednesday)_**

That day was worse than the last. It seems now that **_one_** fangirl has shown herself, any other fangirls that were previously hidden, now seemed to suddenly be willing to throw themselves at Hyuse.

But Mori wasn't really ignored. Not really.

( _She really shouldn't have laughed at Hyuse before. Mori's sorry now, it really wasn't that funny in hindsight._ )

"Where is Hyuse-kun from?!"

Mori found herself backed against a wall, not really _cornered_ or _threatened_ by the girls, but rather just completely dumfounded at the sheer number of ladies that were walking up to her to ask about her adopted brother. ( _It would have been funny if it was someone else, but she wasn't taking that much amusement in it at the moment_.)

"Uh…" Mori stuttered, before blurting out a slightly confused "— _Canada_?!"

(' _Can confirm, all Neighbours are Canadians. God, our cover story is getting_ ** _more_** _and_ ** _more_** _ridiculous.'_ )

A few girls squealed.

"He's _foreign_ , oh my god, I knew it!" Someone shrieked form the back of the group, blushing lightly with a small unnaturally sweet smile on their face.

' _Holy shit, girls!_ ' Mori shuffled down the wall awkwardly, trying to get away from the small herd. ' _We're still in middle school, can you calm! The fuck! Down?!_ '

"Mikumo!" The girl in the front called out again, getting on the tips of her toes to meet Mori eye-to-eye, which the four-eyed teen couldn't help but look up to the ceiling awkwardly. "Is Hyuse-kun your older brother, or younger?!"

" _Older?!_ " Mori blurted out once again, somehow sounding even more confused than the last answer she gave. Despite being _more_ certain of this one.

( _He'd needed to give up his age to Kasumi when he first 'moved in' to their house, but still hadn't shared his birthday quite yet… Possibly due to a difference in months and dates in the Neighbourhood? Though he was 16, so there wan't much doubt that he was_ ** _definitely_** _older_ …)

"He's her _older_ brother!" Someone repeated excitedly, and Mori took **_no_** chances as she sprinted away from the fangirls.

( _Somehow, this was worse than bullying. This was absolutely_ ** _fucking_** _ridiculous._ )

Later on, while walking in the halls, paying far more attention to their surroundings than Hyuse could ever bring himself to do in this environment, Yuma caught a few hushed whispers and quiet giggles. It was somewhat strange, being able to make out a few comments that sounded suspiciously like ' _cool_ ' and ' _mysterious_ ' as he noticed people glancing over 'subtly' at the Aftokratorian Neighbour beside him. During that day's lunch period, Yuma decided to report his findings to his two… ' _friends_ '.

Hyuse looked mildly disgusted and somewhat fearful, while Mori could only wheeze. Because really? Cool, _Mysterious_?

 _Hyuse acted like an angsty teen._

When Mori voiced that out, Hyuse promptly attempted to strangle her, although it was lacking any heated aggression. Nevertheless, Yuma had an obligation to save his dumbass-moron friend, and so he stopped the Neighbour prisoner from strangling her to death. Mori wouldn't stop wheezing though, which _really_ wasn't helping her case at all.

Although reluctantly, they made their way back to class after that. It was disturbing to have even just a _few_ of the girls in their class giggling at Hyuse's every word ( _who somehow looked both completely blank and at the same time,_ **extremely** _uncomfortable_ ), but Yuma and Mori managed to herd away most of the fangirls.

Despite still being a prisoner, and also holding up a front of hating anyone that came within 50 meters of him, Hyuse somehow managed to look vaguely grateful.

Once the last bell rang, they once again made a bolt to their lockers, before running right out of the school gates. Hyuse somehow managed to have a few love-letters shoved in his face while they were running—which Mori ended up ripping the papers out of his hands and tossing them into a trashcan on the way back to the branch office.

Hyuse was still _somewhat_ grateful. He doesn't know what he did in his past life to deserve the fangirls, but he also doesn't know what he did in _this_ life to deserve Mori and Yuma. Both of which who were being simultaneously understanding… Yet somehow also the _bane of his existence_ and _endlessly infuriating_ … All at the same time.

"It's like…" Mori scribbled out a few more lines of math-jargon, before turning the paper around to show Yuma. "… _That_. Does that make much sense?"

"Oh!" He grinned, before writing down a quick answer in the blank. "So, like… That?"

"No, not quite," She took the paper back, circling one of the blocks of calculations and text. "You missed the part there, where you're supposed to switch it from positive to negative."

Hyuse leaned over from the side, his own math worksheets done as he moved on to language—which was a more difficult subject for the Neighbour, who only really excelled at math, art, and phys-ed. "… _Stupid_."

Yuma made a strangled, offended noise, before throwing a pencil at Hyuse. The brunette Neighbour only nonchalantly dodged with a slightly smug curl to his lips that wouldn't have been present a few days ago.

Mori sighed, leaning over to look at Hyuse's work. "… You missed the conjugation on the fourth word."

Hyuse threw a charcoal-tinged eraser at Mori, who also swiftly avoided the projectile.

" _Wait_ , but that doesn't make sense," Yuma interrupted, causing the two taller teens to pause. "If that's the case, then the number is positive. How do you take a positive away from something that's already negative?"

Mori leaned over, Hyuse following not soon after. "Well, it's just like normal. But since the negative is technically backwards, if you take _more_ away from a negative, it becomes a larger negative number."

Yuma shot her a quizzical glance. " _How the fuck does that work?!_ "

" _Language_ , for god's sake!"

Hyuse tilted his head before his expression settled on a completely blank look. "… Fuck."

"God, _look what you've done_!" Mori shrieked, gesturing at Hyuse. "You've corrupted the child!"

Hyuse took minor offence to the ' _child_ ' comment, but eventually decided that he was too amused to bother glaring at either of them… For the moment.

-0-

Chat : TAMAKOMA-2

 **Four-eyed weirdo : hey, Chika**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : im so sorry Yuma and I haven't been hanging out with you**

White gremlin : im really sorry chika

Chika : It's no worries, guys

Chika : I know you guys are really busy

 **Four-eyed weirdo : hhhhh but now I feel REALLY guilty**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : But I don't really want to know what Hyuse might do if we let our guard down until I get to know him a little better**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : so I can predict how he'll react**

White gremlin : & I rlly don't want him near you tbh

Chika : Thank you for looking out for me :)

 **Four-eyed weirdo : Yuma is your knight in shining white hair**

White gremlin : i thought that her knight was that ema guy though

 **Four-eyed weirdo : asfgfkefuisjdfkthatstruebutdontsayit**

Chika : Yuma!

Chika : Ema and I are just friends

White gremlin : … fine, ill let it slide

White gremlin : but but but but

White gremlin : on thursday, tomorrow

White gremlin : we should all hang out

Chika : ? Won't you guys still be on guard duty then?

 **Four-eyed weirdo : We've made the executive decision that we know Hyuse ENOUGH to tell if he'll try anything funny**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : besides, if anything were to happen, Jin would most likely tell us**

White gremlin : jins trustworthy, even if hyuse isnt

Chika : Ok… Did you guys have anything in particular planned? :)

 **Four-eyed weirdo : … not really**

White gremlin : we'll figure it out

-0-

 ** _(Day 4 - Thursday)_**

"We've escaped the fangirls again," Mori gasped, leaning against the doorway dramatically. "We live, yet another day."

Melodramatic as it was, Hyuse's expression gave everyone the sense that he somewhat agreed.

' _Fangirls are terrifying_.'

Yuma just looked amused. Which, honestly, was _fair_ , if albeit mean.

"Are you guys gonna be ok, going back there… _Every day_?" Konami asked, slightly worried. "You look dead tired…"

"I will persevere," Mori declared gravely. "Though Yuma and I were going to head to the practice room for a while until Chika gets back, so could we trouble you to watch Hyuse for a while?"

"Chika?" Konami tilted her head. "Where is she, anyway? She goes to the same school as you guys, she should've been let out at the same time… Also, Shiori's waiting for you guys in the training room."

"She and Natsume went to go out and meet Ema, who goes to a different school, apparently." Mori and Yuma kicked her shoes off, and after a few days of this routine, Hyuse finally felt casual enough to do the same. "The blonde kid from Kageura squad. The one that has a crush on Chika."

Yuma shot her a suspicious glance. "I'm still surprised you haven't attempted to murder him yet."

"C'mon Yuma, he's a _nice_ kid," Mori waved off, before turning to Konami. "Also, for Hyuse, just leave him with his bag, a snack, and a comfortable spot on the couch and he'll mind his own business. We'll probably end up picking him up later, so I think… You'll only need to watch him for a few hours."

Yuma snickered under his breath, hastily covering his mouth to muffle the noise. "God Mori, you're acting as if you adopted him."

Hyuse has given up on resisting by now. If he glared at the two teens every time they acted like this, his face _really_ _would_ stay that way. At this point, he can only pray that Mori won't act like this forever.

"Also, for snacks, Hyuse likes taiyaki—" Mori paused halfway down the hall. "… Actually, where's Yotaro? I'm pretty sure Yotaro is part of the list of ' _people that Hyuse can tolerate_ '."

Konami raised an eyebrow. "And _who_ exactly… Is on that list?"

Mori grinned. "I don't exactly know quite yet. All I know is that the list is _puny_."

Hyuse scoffed, already heading towards the living room opposite to the training rooms. "It grows _increasingly_ smaller every hour I spend here."

Yuma furrowed his eyebrows but didn't get a chance to properly comment before Mori closed the door behind them.

(… _Because that was a lie… Wasn't it?_ )

"Shiori, thanks— _in advance_ —for all of your help." Mori waved, already deactivating the spare Trigger and switching over to her normal, battle one. "So, we're trying out the shared vision again?"

"I mean, only if you want to, Miku-chan," Shiori waved, already seated at the desk and changed out of her school uniform. "You seemed… Kind of against it last time, so I just—"

"Don't worry about it, Shiori," Mori grinned before quickly patting Yuma on the shoulders. "C'mon Yuma, are you zoning out already?"

Yuma blinked, before grinning and switching Triggers. "Nah, just thinking about something. I think I'm the one that should be asking though, are _you_ ready for this?"

Mori unclipped her glasses, tucking them into her shirt before slipping on the black frames, and looking through the dark-blue tinted glasses.

"I'm more ready than you are, that's for sure."

-0-

I ended up tossing around the question in my head for a few days after that.

It kept me awake at night, where I'd roll around in my bed before giving up on sleep, and sitting in the dimly lit kitchen while I organized pros and cons in my mind. I just kept… thinking about it. It was a single question, that began as a small idea on Wednesday—the day Hyuse finally began to accept Mori and Yuma's presence, as well as the day that Mori noticed something quite important.

Hyuse has never even entertained the idea of escaping since Monday. Given, I've only known him for a short while, but while he's in my presence, I've never once seen him think about the idea of escaping. Of running back to Aftokrator.

So I've been wondering for a while…

What does Hyuse want?

I don't know what _I_ want. That much is clear. I don't know what _I_ want quite yet… Or at least, what I want to strive towards. What I want to do.

But what does Hyuse want? It's chance that brought the question to mind, and it's a mix of curiosity and some concern that's keeping it there.

Does he want to go home? Does he have someone he wants to see?

( _Does he want to survive? Or live?_ )

So I've been thinking, about giving him something to do… For now. To let him have something to do until he figures it out. To let him be in a position to chase after a goal, once he figures out what it'll be.

So I've been wondering…

(… _Does Hyuse even… Want to go home?_ )

 **… Should I ask Hyuse to join… Tamakoma-2?**


	20. Emergency

"Mori-chan, do you know how to make composite bullets?"

The sudden disruption ended up jarring Mori's concentration, causing her to drop the small, handheld video game she was holding onto her face.

"Fuck—Ow!"

Kunichika giggled airily from her spot opposite to the 15-year old, though still on the same couch. Both teens were sitting on the couch, feet to feet, with their backs and head against the armrests of the couch.

"I won," Kunichika declares triumphantly, lifting up her own hand-held video game.

"That's only 'cause I got distracted—!"

Izumi snickered at them, which brought Mori's attention back to the source of her frustration.

"— _Izumi-senpai, sorry_ , what'd you say earlier?"

He grinned, spinning a pencil between his fingers. "I asked if you knew how to make composite bullets."

Mori thought for a moment, before ultimately finding that she didn't even know what they were. "Nope."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

Kunichika huffed while absentmindedly picking up the device that Mori dropped on her face, apparently recognizing the distraction for what it was.

' _I guess I'm not going to get to play video games with her right now…_ ' The operator frowned, before abruptly launching herself to the area where the operator's desk was, where Tachikawa had been left to complete his homework all by his lonesome. "Captain, play video games with me!"

"I thought that you guys told me to just mind my own business over here...?" Tachikawa sighed, though he _was_ agreeably prying the device from Kunichika's fingers like the indulging captain he was. "Do you have a third one? Maybe if Yuiga plays, it won't look like I'm losing to you _quite_ as badly."

"That's cruel!" Yuiga wailed from his spot on the second couch—trying to mind his own business _for once_ —where he'd been nibbling on one of the many snacks from their fridge. "I didn't even do anything!"

" _This_ time."

Tachikawa sighed, glancing across the room as Izumi enthusiastically lectured about the different types of composite bullets with an attentively listening Mori, who was nodding along with an equally excited glint in her eyes.

'... _At least they're having fun._ '

Kunichika returned with a third console, as well as Yuiga under her arm— _dramatically_ sobbing all the way—before she sat herself in front of their captain with an excited grin.

-0-

"So, composite bullets are really one of the biggest advantages a shooter can get," Izumi began, holding up a single finger. "Do you know why?"

At some point I had slid off the couch, a pillow in hand, as the two of us got distracted by our conversation on the floor. I felt a bit bad about dropping the game with Kunichika, but I did see her having fun on the other side of the room with Tachikawa and Yuiga, so most of my guilt was nonexistent.

"Because it won't take up a separate Trigger space for them, unlike a gunner…?"

"Yeah, mostly that." He pulled over one of the bags of chips they had left of the table, bringing it down to the floor before he ripped it open and offered me some. "If a gunner wants to load composite bullets, they need to program it into the Trigger's gun ahead of time," He paused, shoving a chip into his mouth. "But then, that Trigger space can _only_ shoot those composite bullets, so no one really does that. The only ones that can use composite bullets effectively… Are shooters. Ironically, the only ones that actually need to gain any mastery over making them, are also shooters."

"Are they… particularly hard to do?" I asked, hugging the pillow to my stomach as I leaned my back against the couch. "I don't think there are very many shooters at Border, so how many of them can make composite bullets?"

"Right now?" He sighed. "Well, you're right about that, the shooters in Border are limited. I think there's only… around 10, at the moment. Most of us are high-B-rank, or A-rank so the only people that CAN'T make them are…" He lifted his hand as if to lift off the names on his fingers. "… You, and the three for the low-ranking Mamiya squad. Though I'm actually not too sure about Kako-san, since her Triggers aren't _really_ set up to do it anyway… Both her shooter Triggers are on one side, but she could PROBABLY make some composite bullets she wanted to."

I blinked. "… _So_ … I'm being left in the dust here."

"Well, not for long you know. Don't you have any faith in me to teach you?"

"Wait," I paused, my eyes widening. "You're willing to teach me? I'll have you know, I'm—"

(— _A bad student_.)

"—I might not pick up on it all that quickly," I finished, instead of the words that had unconsciously formed in my mind. "It'll probably be a waste of your time."

"Teaching you would never be a waste of my time," He waved off, rolling his eyes as if he found what I said particularly funny. "Besides, if teaching _anyone_ was a waste of time, it'd be every time Yosuke crawls to our operator room, _begging_ me to help him study for our test the _next_ day."

I admit, I _did_ laugh at that. The mental image of the spear-user doing that was, unfortunately enough, hilarious, but also believable.

That idea was soon followed up with the thought of Miwa stomping after his troublesome teammate with an angry scowl, dragging Yoneya away from bothering anyone else.

… Yeah, that was a funny mental image.

"By the way, before we start doing **_anything_** …" He leaned over with an excited grin on his face. "What're your Trigger sets anyway? You haven't had enough rank wars matches for me to accurately guess, so I'm still kind of wondering about that."

"Oh, right." I sat, up, drawing up my fingers—not unlike what he had done before—as I crossed my legs. "On my left, I have Asteroid, Meteora, Shield, and the Spider… And on the right, I have Hound, Viper, Asteroid, and the Bagworm." I trailed off with a hum, tilted my head upwards. "… I _did_ have a Scorpion during the first match, but I eventually decided to commit to being a shooter and took it off so I could have as many shooter Triggers as I could…"

I trailed off, finally noticing his slightly surprised expression. "… What?"

"… Oh no, it's nothing." He laughed, and there was suddenly a deep sense of amusement deep in his eyes. "It's just… Your Triggers match mine almost perfectly… Other than the Spider, since I have one Shield on both sides. It's almost funny."

I did laugh at that too, because that was a strange coincidence.

"Anyways, you have a pretty good set for composite bullets… So I don't think we need to move anything around quite yet." He gave a quick thumbs up. "You can switch it around as much as you want later, once you've finally gotten the trick down. Then, it's just a matter of picking which ones you think will be the most useful, and adjusting accordingly."

"… When _will_ I have the time to do that though…?" I wondered out loud, glancing up slightly. "Don't get me wrong, I definitely don't mean to be ungrateful, but I don't have much experience in the first place and I only have one or two people that would be willing to spar with me… People that aren't our competition at the moment, anyway." I laughed dryly, flicking a stray hair off of my face. "Finding enough time to actually get the technique down, experiment with different composite bullets, and get enough experience that they're not more of a hindrance than an advantage…?"

"Well, it's a good thing you have some good friends here, isn't it?"

I quirked an eyebrow, levelling him a confused expression. "… What do you mean by that?"

He grinned again. And for one of the hundredth times in my few short months I've spent here at Border, I found myself blown away by how determined and radiant these people always were.

"If you can pull of 100 wins against either me, Yosuke, or Midorikawa… Then I'll bet you'd gain enough experience under your belt as a _shooter_ , to learn how to make composite bullets. And it's a good thing too because anytime you can find some time to stop at Border… At least one of us is usually gonna be lounging around."

He paused to look at my gobsmacked expression, which unfortunately caused him to snort.

"Also, I'll add Miwa to the list, because it'll definitely piss him off."

-0-

Chat: Operation:100 Wins

Shun : yeah sure, i'll help!

Spear idiot : Did you really think i was gonna turn down free fights

Spear idiot : dude

Bullet brains : I guess that's a yes from you too

Unknown Number : … Why am I here.

 ** _[Unknown Number has left this chat]_**

 ** _[Bullet brains has added Unknown Number to this chat]_**

Unknown Number : Let me leave.

Bullet brains : Not a chance, buddy

Unknown Number : Then let me die.

Unknown Number : I lost my chance a few weeks ago during the invasion anyway.

 **Four-eyed weirdo : eyyyyy**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : up top. high five**

Bullet brains : Kids, could you lighten up a little?

Spear idiot : Yeah, I'll have to say NO to that too.

Shun : oh yoneyan used proper punctuation, he's serious

Unknown Number : …

 ** _[You have saved this Number as 'AngstyMcAngst']_**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : that… that IS Miwa, right?**

Spear idiot : got it in one

Spear idiot : *finger guns*

 **Four-eyed weirdo : good cause that'd be awkward otherwise**

AngstyMcAngst : Why.

 **Four-eyed weirdo : Nothing, never mind.**

 **Four-eyed weirdo : Thanks for agreeing to be a part of this shitshow I guess**

AngstyMcAngst : I didn't agree to anything.

Spear idiot : by the way shujis usually at border after school on most days so you can ask him for a few matches everyday…. probably

AngstyMcAngst : Yoneya. Shut. UP.

Shun : oh you just got ratted out

 **Four-eyed weirdo : anyways, Ive already gotten 2 wins against Izumi-senpai, so… I guess I'll be at this for a while**

AngstyMcAngst : If you can't even properly beat Izumi, you don't have much of a chance of beating me.

Bullet brains : Really feeling the love here, Miwa

-0-

Mori didn't really pay much attention to her surroundings at school before Hyuse came around, but when he _did_ end up coming along… She ended up on high alert most of the time.

Trying to pick apart the Neighbour's personality and lifestyle was tedious at best, and _extremely_ irritating at its worst.

He didn't show too much interest in ' _Meeden_ ' culture like Yuma did most of the time, but Mori found him similarly excited ( _as excited as the brunette would will himself to show, anyway_ ) to try out the different, diverse kinds of food earth had to offer. He seemed to like taiyaki most though, which was something that Yotaro, Mori and Yuma had picked up on, before promptly spilling the beans to the rest of the branch building.

He also seemed somewhat fascinated with the weather. Yuma told me that, yes, snow did exist in the Neighbourhood since one of the strongest planetary nations—' _Kion_ ' or something—was apparently an eternal winter wonderland. But the mere fact that the earth's climate seemed to conduct itself without any ' _mother Trigger_ ' was indeed fascinating for both Neighbours.

( _Hyuse actually seemed a little bitter about the whole 'mother Trigger' thing… Didn't Yuma mention something about that? He said that HQ has another prisoner that told him about Hyuse… Whatever, I'll confirm it later._ )

The first time they actually had a decent amount of snow since Hyuse was allowed out of the building, Mori ended up dragging both of her friends into a snowball fight—in a _true_ _idiot-trio manner_. Just another one to the list of things that Yoneya and Izumi taught her.

They would've been so proud if they saw Hyuse's expression the first time she decked him in the face with a snowball. He was _infuriated_.

Branching off of that, Mori also learned that Hyuse was terrible at making snowballs. That was less important information, but it amused both her and Yuma, so she kept it in mind.

( _Watching him fumble with the snow was absolutely hilarious. She was glad that all three of them were in their Trion-bodies too, or else they would have been very, VERY cold on the way home._ )

The next thing to be added to her little list was actually brought to her attention by Yotaro. She'd noticed that he'd been constantly badgering Rindou to take him to the crafts store for the past few weeks, but she didn't really pay attention to it much. Until he was eventually cut off from his bi-weekly 'store visits' by their boss himself. Yotaro didn't really listen to him, and one day ends up, both hands clinging to Mori's leg as she attempted to walk down the hall in vain.

"Please take me to the crafts store! I promise I won't ask for too much, I _promise_!"

She ended up bringing him after all. When she asked him why he didn't ask someone that could actually **_drive_** , he only shrugged. Mori sighed heavily, carrying the toddler on her shoulders as she walked down the street.

It was at this time that she was actually paying attention to what Yotaro was asking her to buy, and she eventually asked him once they had gotten through the cashier's line.

"Oh, this? I'm buying it for my new frie— _Kohai_ , Hyuse!"

She had—of course—noticed his habit of doodling during class with sketchbooks and charcoal that she didn't remember anyone giving him, but brushed it off relatively easily. It wasn't like he was drawing out plans for _world domination_ , he just drew whatever he could see. Harmless.

But she took a bit more of an interest in it after that and even bought him a few art supplies that she knew were decent quality not too soon after that.

Hyuse gave her a weird look when she and Yotaro handed them over, but she could only shrug. It was the least she could do for him, since he _does_ deal with both Yuma and herself for _hours on end_ … And she knows that it probably gets tiring after a while.

The last _important_ thing that Mori learned, was that Hyuse had a very specific set of people that he listened to.

It was kind of like an unconscious ranking system in his head, where he put different people to decide how to treat them in particular. It was honestly fascinating to watch.

It showed in subtle reactions, little ways that most people don't notice in the slightest. The way he unconsciously glares at Jin if he's in the same room as him, how he shuffles away from Konami when she approaches him ( _She's taken to giving him '_ pats _' on the head when he's around_ ) in a way that doesn't make it look like he's backing away.

How he nods along and actually _listens_ to Yotaro when he speaks. Even if he doesn't contribute much.

So she's learned that in people that he 'really-doesn't-get-along-with-and-kinda-hates', we have Border's higher-ups and Jin.

Really, those are the only people there. She can kind of empathize with him since she was like that for a while too, so she doesn't dare comment.

Next, people that ' _he'd-prefer-not-speak-with-but-will-tolerate-their-presence-if-needed_ ', there's Karasuma, Kizaki, Rindou, most Border agents, and for the most part, Konami.

An exclusive category all on its own, ' _people-that-he-might-feel-kind-of-bad-about-but-doesn't-even-entertain-the-thought-of-apologizing-to_ ', ( ** _Whew_** _, that's a mouthful_ ,) Chika.

Since he, you know, tried kidnapping her under orders of his psychopathic country.

He hasn't tried interacting with her quite yet, which she felt was… _Acceptable_? It was clear to see that he wouldn't apologize unless it was of his own volition, so both Mori and Yuma hadn't tried pushing them together to interact as the latter had done with the former and Jin. Also, they didn't want to bring up any unwanted memories of the invasion for Chika, so everyone involved would stay happy if the issue was just left alone.

Then, the last group, which was ' _people-he-actually-doesn't-mind_ '. Which might as well be Hyuse-speak for ' _friends_ '.

 _Maybe_. Again, this is just Mori's personal observations.

( _Just as a note, Mori doesn't know where any of the_ ** _other_** _Neighbours stand on this little…_ pyramid _of Hyuse's. She hadn't really seen him interact with any of them, and he hasn't spoken or asked about them, so she stays away from that topic_ … _Though Yuma had mentioned something about one of the Neighbours still being alive, somehow having his consciousness transferred over to a Rad via-Trion-horns… Mori had stopped listening at that point, and only regarded him with a flat look. Wait, was that the prisoner he had mentioned…? Man, now it's all blurring together._ )

Anyways, as far as she knows? Only one person stands on this part of the pyramid… Well, technically by extension, _two_.

Yotaro( _And by extension, Raijinmaru_ ). The short, little brother of everyone in the Tamakoma branch, who had also been tasked with watching Hyuse for the first one or two weeks while she was unconscious.

( _Reluctantly, she admits that Kasumi_ ** _might_** _also be on this list. The two of them have a loose, mutual respect for each other for putting up with Mori's antics, apparently_.)

This had thoroughly perplexed Mori. She felt like it shouldn't have been a surprise, but at the same time, it just… Came as such a shocker.

She also didn't comment though, because Yotaro _genuinely_ cares for the teen that they were supposed to be watching, and Hyuse didn't wish him any harm, so it was fine.

As long as Yuma and Jin are keeping an eye on Hyuse, she doesn't really have any reason to be particularly afraid. If something happens, she'll just deal with it as best she can.

But anyways, he actually listens to most things Yotaro asks for. Of course, the toddler doesn't really realize the amount of trust the Neighbour has put in him, but Mori admits that it's probably better this way.

And as the days pass Mori _admittedly_ had no idea where Yuma and herself were placed on that scale.

It's growing increasingly frustrating to try and guess.

-0-

"We're _baaaack_ …" I called out into the house, kicking my shoes with a little more force than was probably necessary. "What's for dinner, mom?"

She peeked her head through the door, taking note of Hyuse behind me, before walking back into the kitchen. "… Yuma isn't with you two?"

"Nah," I yawned, tossing my bag towards the couch as I collapsed onto the cushions not too soon after. " _Ow_ , my feet. I shouldn't have walked all the way from HQ to Tamakoma to back over _here_ …"

"You could have just left me back at Tamakoma," Hyuse accused, still somewhat salty about being pulled away from the little time he'd been spending with Yotaro without Yuma or Jin pestering him. I did feel bad for him, but it was getting late, and we needed to eat and sleep. Preferably at home, since I don't want mom to get lonely.

"I didn't feel like it," Was my only response, rather than the proper explanation swirling through my mind.

Hyuse sent a clipped glare in my direction, before following me to land on the other side of the couch. The two of us sat there in rare silence for a few minutes before Kasumi walked into the room with a few plates of food.

"Oh, are we eating in here?" I questioned, rolling over. "We could have gotten up to go to the dining room…"

Hyuse grunted something that sounded suspiciously like ' **I** _wouldn't have moved_ ', which I shot him a glare for. Nevertheless, he didn't back down with neither of us breaking eye-contact as Kasumi set down two plates in front of us ( _filled with stir-fried noodles, yum_ ) without batting an eye.

Hyuse ended up trying to stab me in the arm with a fork. Under normal circumstances, since neither of us were in our Trion bodies, I would've immediately called HQ on him for that one, but I…

I **_did_** end up trying to stab him back in retaliation… So I felt like it was justified if I didn't bother reporting him to HQ about that.

Just for that, mom made the two of us sleep on the floor of the living room. I suppose Hyuse wouldn't have gotten to sleep in his own room anyway—since every Neighbour I come across seemed to be god-awful with any kind of electronics ( _Hyuse_ ** _somehow_** _managed to blow up the light-switch_ ). But I wanted my bed back, dammit.

And this is how it ended up, I guess. He had dragged his mattress into the room grumpily, before tossing it into the corner along with a few pillows as he leaned against the wall. I shuffled my own mattress in the little space in the living room which was, unfortunately, somewhat close to him.

 _Awkward_ silence—with the both of us shooting each other glares from each of our spots.

And the silence had gone on for a long time. I absentmindedly wondered why we hadn't turned off the lights, gone to sleep and pretended the other didn't exist, since mom was **_probably_** already asleep by now.

I found my mouth opening without meaning to.

"Did you want to sit in our operator room tomorrow?"

And he actually paused at that, eyebrow curving questioningly as our glares slowly lessened.

"… You can watch our match tomorrow. Up-close, I guess."

And reluctantly, looking resigned and somewhat tiredly, he rolled over without a word.

After a few more moments of silence, I finally realized that he wasn't going to even bother acknowledging me. And so, similarly to my ' _brother_ ', I leaned backwards and covered myself with the blanket to rest with a huff.

The awkward—yet somehow casual?—relationship between the two of us kind of reminded me of Rinji when we had first met. Awkward enough to not be especially close, yet casual enough to joke around and be something similar to friends.

( _It's kind of weird, to say the least. Not that I'm… complaining, but I'm_ ** _kind of_** _complaining_.)

-0-

Waking up was slow and painful—as per usual. I felt a few more signature stings from my leg, my side, and my shoulder before I shifted for the pain to lessen slightly.

'… _I wish I didn't roll over so much in my sleep, it fucking hurts_.'

I could distantly hear the tapping of feet lightly walking across the floorboards, but was officially too tired to care who was awake, and what they were doing.

It's too early for this.

' _We have a night session for the rank wars… I can afford to sleep in… Right?_ '

"Wake up, _lazy_."

My eyes wearily slid open, and I squinted with a miffed expression at the figure leaning over me. I don't think I would've answered anyone at gunpoint, with how tired I was. And it must have shown, because whoever it was leaned back, continuing their walk over to the coffee table nearby with a quiet huff.

Although my eyes were mourning the loss of shade—and dying of exposure to the light hanging from the ceiling—I managed to roll over with a quiet groan, a dull ache echoing from my scarred limbs. Once again, I found myself squinting at a blurry shape— _oh, that was Hyuse, no wonder_ —slowly walking towards the coffee table to my left. He sat down across from who I rightfully assumed to be ' _our_ ' mom before the two of them continued to converse over… Whatever they had previously been talking about before he left.

Why did Hyuse get up in the first place?

I saw him put something down. Clear, so… A glass of water….?

( _My vision cleared_ ** _just_** _slightly, allowing me to verify the assumption_.)

Damn, I'm good… Okay, admittedly, this is a small thing to be proud over, but I'm far too sleepy to NOT get excited over small victories.

'… _Wait, didn't Hyuse tell me to wake up?_ '

"What're y'guys doin'…?" I slurred sleepily and recognized with detached amusement when Hyuse winced at the poor attempt at speech.

'… _Serves him right, for waking me up_ …'

"Hyuse wanted to get some quick studying in before you woke up and left," Mom filled in, completely unaffected by my usual morning sleepiness. "We're reviewing some of the Japanese homework that you guys got."

I shut my eyes, nearly surrendering to the tempting blackness before I got out a quiet "didn't we try doing that yesterday," and I shook myself awake again.

"She's better at teaching than you are," Hyuse commented sharply, catching the pillow I immediately chucked at where I thought his face was.

Face. Head. Wait, he's not in his Trion body… I'm not used to seeing his horns, that's **_really_** weird.

"Y'er not in th' Trion body…" I slurred. "Mom is _right_ there…"

" _It is_ truly _incredible how little I give a damn_."

"It doesn't matter anyway," Mom excused. "Did you really think that you could hide it from me?" She paused. "… Though finding out that humanoid Neighbours existed was… A surprise. But I'm not surprised that Border is hiding things from civilians."

… It seems that in my sleepiness I've forgotten how much of an intelligent woman my mom was. Man, what a queen.

"… Still, a ch'nge of topic… Why does e'ryone like my mom better than me…?" I groaned. "I know she's awesome, but you're supposed to be **_my_** friends…."

I didn't hear a denial to that before I slowly got to my feet and made my way to the shower in the bathroom, which was weird enough.

But coming out of there, once I had packed my bag, gotten changed, and thoroughly woken myself up, and seeing Hyuse waiting by the door for me, made me actually raise an eyebrow.

"… What?" He turned away with a scowl. "You said I could come right? I don't have anything better to do."

The retort was sharp but didn't have any bite to it. Hearing something like that from the stand-offish Neighbour that only Yotaro could get along with, was surprisingly heartwarming.

So excuse me if I got unnaturally pumped-up after that.

"— _Little brother_! Carry me to Tamakoma!"

"What the—I'm **_older_** than you. _AND DON'T CALL ME '_ ** _BROTHER_** _'!_ "

He was too distracted by the title to throw me off of his back, which I had stubbornly clung to. Good thing too, because _wow_ , my leg really hurts today.

( _It's gonna be a good day, though_.)

(… _I think. I_ ** _might_** _have just jinxed it._ )

-0-

"… Mori, welcome back," Yuma waved, apparently having ' _slept_ ' over at the branch office… Not much of a surprise. "And Hyuse, what a surprise."

His carefree tone didn't really match the apparent ' _surprise_ ', but we were used to Yuma's personality enough for it to be brushed off.

" _Lazy_ invited me to watch," He grumbled, slipping off his shoes as he shoved his hands in his pocket. His hood was drawn up so that his horns would not be visible, and I was struck again by how much I was used to him looking like a normal human. "I have nothing better to do."

"Please stop calling me that… It's not as bad as ' _four-eyes_ ', but we've started with a low bar here." I'm not ashamed to say that I whined, and it's perfectly justifiable.

… Okay, maybe it isn't, since maybe I should have seen it coming when he dropped me off of his back and down to the sidewalk around… Half a block? from the branch office. Though no one said I _couldn't_ still be salty about it.

Yuma raised an eyebrow at our tones, somehow picking up on the casualness that probably wasn't present earlier in the week…. but he didn't comment, which I was thankful for.

( _I still don't know where Yuma stands on Hyuse's 'ranking'. Or myself for that matter, but I don't really want to risk dropping lower than I needed to_ … _Actually, I don't really care. While I'd like to be Hyuse's friend, I'm not going to pretend to be nice just because he can't suck it up_.)

"So anyways, Mori." Yuma hummed while jogging down the hall, socks letting him slide around with a lazy grin. "You excited for today's match?"

I shrugged. But I wasn't dying of nervousness like previous matches, so that's a plus. "I'm… Relatively confident."

He grinned, eyes quickly flickering to the sunglasses sitting on top of my head. "We have gotten pretty far with the shared-vision thing, haven't we?"

"I think it's better than what we had _before_ , for sure." I lazily waved off Hyuse's questioning glance, which he scowled at. "But it'll take a bit more work before we can add anyone else… Like Chika."

"Or she can just connect with you and we'll disconnect me," He offered, which I shrugged at.

"If the situation calls for it, but she doesn't exactly have years of experience on a war zone or a sight-based side-effect that can help her process the information better." I sighed, dragging both boys down the hall. "Is Shiori here yet? What about imouto?"

"Neither," Yuma laughed, allowing me to bring him to the couch. "I think Shiori tried pulling an all-nighter for _gods-knows-what-reason_ again, so she'll probably be late."

"Was she texting you 'till midnight again?"

"… Until 2 this time."

I groaned, before dropping like a rock onto the cushions. "Wake me up in an hour."

I barely saw Hyuse give me a glance of horrified incredulity before I closed my eyes. "How are you both a _workaholic_ , but also so _incredibly lazy_ at the same time?"

Yuma snorted once, before I fell into a half-asleep state on his shoulder, and for the most part, completely dead to the world.

Heh. **_Dead_**.

But still, this gave me a bit of time to review, if in a bit of a disorganized manner. Our opponents. Nino… Ninomiya, Kageura, and… Azuma. And their teams. Right, their teams.

( _Wow, maybe I_ ** _should've_** _stayed awake for this_.)

I did go over some previous logs, but I can't depend on what past strategies indicate. Stay flexible, think on your feet. Things could change with something as simple as our placement on the map, so how much could things be thrown off with a change of map? The map which, Azuma squad is picking, by the way. Of course, Kageura squad's strategies probably won't change up too much… They seem to be relatively similar to us, where they just leave it up to their captain to think up something on the spot, and faithfully follow. So whatever I think up, I can expect them to counter accordingly without pause, and vice-versa.

Ninomiya seems like the type to try and plan ahead, but can probably think on his feet just as easily and effectively. He won't be thrown off unless something really **_big_** happens…. and even then, he might be expecting it with… _Chika_ hanging around.

Actually, he might not be expecting much from her, the bastard. I want to prove him wrong in both that department, as well as his little slight about him being… ' _better than me_ '. I mean, _fuck_ , he's right, he **_is_** better than me. But I'm not gonna give him the _fucking_ satisfaction! One way or another, even if we lose this match, I will make that smug bastard **_eat_** his words before the match is over.

Still, it's hard to make any concrete plans ahead of time, when I don't even know where anybody is going to be placed. I know I said I was going to plan things out for a change, try and improve my usual dumbass ways, but this is _hard_.

… No, I refuse to throw in the towel. If I drop the plans like a hot potato the minute things start to look rough, I'm never going to get better. I'll just remain stagnant… That's the last thing I want.

Back to the drawing board.

I'll need to do a majority of the planning on the battlefield, which isn't anything new. But let's think, think, _think_. What will I do if they're too fast for me to even think up a plan?

Because, side effect or not, Azuma was the leader of the former No. 1 squad. Ninomiya was on his team, which means that he was in the No. 1 squad too. Kageura can't be snuck up on and any battle experience he has completely trumps mine. And their squad members aren't bad either. According to Chika, Ema is… ' _friends_ ' with Touma, the No. 1 sniper, and taught by Hatohara… Geez, that woman is popping up everywhere, isn't she? So Ema can't be underestimated, and though I haven't seen Kitazoe in action really, he has a lot of destructive capabilities. At this rate, we won't be the only ones blowing up buildings.

Then Inukai, which… My track record with him is not exactly looking too good. 19 to 11 in his favour… Admittedly, that was when it was just me, without Yuma. But that was **_also_** Inukai without Tsuji, who is apparently famous for his assists.

Tsuji is pretty skilled, huh? No offence, but I wouldn't have guessed when I saw him the other day, all nervous and skittish. ( _Inukai said it was just because I was a girl, which honestly…? That's a pretty glaring weakness_.)

Yuma also might get held off by Kageura, who seems to enjoy sparring with the short teen. Then there's still Ninomiya lingering around, definitely still condescending towards Chika, and there's also Azuma, who can literally snipe **_through_** buildings—!

… I'm getting worked up. Calm the _fuck_ down, me.

Ninomiya, although the highest ranking shooter, has a pretty fixed skill-set. Unlike Izumi and I, his shooter Triggers are limited but he can still pull off so many wins… Impressive, to say the least. I need to catch him off guard somehow if I want to even _try_ getting close. I could to get him to use full attack, and bait a sniper to shoot at him…

No, if it were that easy, he would've been taken down a long time ago. Azuma or no-Azuma, Ninomiya won't let his guard down when there're snipers around.

… Snipers that'll shoot people, anyway. As far they know, Chika's relatively harmless beyond being a distraction, since she can't shoot people—

"—ori, wake up. Did you wanna get something to eat before lunch rolls around?"

Someone sighed heavily before roughly shaking my shoulder, and my eyes snapped open as I realized just how much time I had lost while travelling through my thoughts.

"… I told you not to shake her _too_ much…" Yuma huffed, glancing at Hyuse. The brunette shrugged unapologetically, probably still slightly salty over how I called him ' ** _little_** _brother_ '. "Anyways, Mori. I'll help you cook something, so maybe we should get it started before Chika gets here… Shiori got here a while ago, but she passed out again at her desk." He grinned. "Since you shouldn't fight on an empty stomach."

I paused, glancing up as my eyes slowly adjusted to the light, before standing up next to both boys. "… Sure, what are you in the mood for?"

"Fish."

" _Oh my god_ , Hyuse, you're like a cat."

"… Really? I thought he was more of a goat."

"Goat-cat—"

" _Shut up_."

… They're… Only wary of snipers that are actually _willing_ to shoot people.

( _Because if no one_ ** _thinks_** _they'll shoot, then there's no reason to be wary, is there?_ )

-0-

 ** _"B-rank wars, round 4! Sorry, we're barely on time!"_** Ayatsuji sighed, hand against her headphones as she settled down in her seat. **_"I'm Ayatsuji, Arashiyama squad's operator with the play-by-play! In the booth here, we have Kazama squad's captain, Kazama… And Kako squad's captain, Kako!"_**

 ** _"Hi there,"_** The two captains replied in sync, Kako's accompanied with a friendly wave.

 ** _"By the way, here are your Valentine's chocolates, it's a little late… Here's some for you too, Ayatsuji."_**

 ** _"Ooh, looks good!"_**

Kazama, with a small nod of acceptance and thanks, immediately dug into the sweets. Kako watched on with a smile as Ayatsuji continued in the background.

 ** _"It won't be much longer, cityscape B has been selected!"_**

Meanwhile, back in Tamakoma's operator room.

"Mori, what's ' _valentines_ '?" Yuma swung his head around, a teasing glint in his eyes. "Did I unknowingly pass up a chance to get free chocolate? _Free food_?"

Mori pressed a hand to her forehead, trying to ignore Hyuse's—also slightly curious—glance. "Not now Yuma... Also, what's with you Neighbours and food? And money for that matter, you're oddly fixated on both."

"It just doesn't make sense," Hyuse, albeit defensively, cut in. "Why would we get **_more_** coins in return as ' _change_ '? And why is paper currency worth more than metal? _It's ridiculous_."

Yuma nodded along, rubbing his chin contemplatively. " ** _Preposterous_**."

Mori groaned while Chika laughed at both Neighbours. She seemed oddly distracted though, so Mori inwardly resolved to ask her about it later.

"Guys, it's going to start soon," Shiori cut in, pushing up her glasses. Apparently, she was the only one that bothered listening to the announcements. "You should probably prepare—"

 ** _"Now, all squads have been deployed to the virtual stage!"_**

Mori didn't get a chance to right herself before a white light engulfed her, and she found herself tripping and landing flat on the ground.

The soft, snow-covered tarmac.

 ** _"This is the day-four night battle, four-way match. Let the battle, BEGIN!"_**

-0-

I groaned, slowly lifted myself up out of the snow. "Oh _fuck_ , I'm gonna stab a bitch."

I heard my communicator crackle as I absentmindedly brushed the snow off of my glasses. ** _"Mori, you got rid of your Scorpion a few matches ago."  
_**

"Yuma, shut up."

I gave up on the glasses, which were now smeared in the snow, and instantly switched to the sunglasses on my head. "I'll just stab them with my bullets, then." I tossed my normal glasses into the small pocket in my pants—What if those get crushed?! Will they be back to normal when I go back to my flesh-and-blood body…?

… The mysteries of Trion bodies keep piling on.

 ** _"… You idiot, you're open for people to attack you,"_** Hyuse interjected, causing me to jolt slightly. **_"You haven't even equipped the… Usami, what was it called."_**

 ** _"Bagworm."_**

 ** _"—Bagworm. Anyone can find you right now, are you stupid?"_**

I frowned. There wasn't any real heat to his words, it sounded more like someone that was frustrated while watching a video-game play-through because _fuck_ , _that thing you were looking for is right there, you walked past it_ ** _five times already_** —

I slapped myself to get rid of the slowly-forming grin, continuing my trek through the relatively deep snow. " _Goat-baby_ , stop back-seat gaming."

Shiori let out a muffled snort at that, but Hyuse only reacted with… Mild confusion.

 ** _"… What is 'back-seat… gaming'?"_**

Yuma made a similarly confused noise.

I laughed at him too but didn't answer him before I began to tune him out.

Glancing down at the Radar, I frowned. "… I assume… _Azuma squad_ is using Bagworms…?"

 ** _"Probably,"_** Shiori agreed, and Hyuse finally ceased his questions about… ' _back-seat gaming_ '. **_"Which means they're probably gonna try targeting someone… Keep an eye out, Mori—"_**

A glint appeared in the corner of my eye, and I shot forward like a bullet to avoid the approaching bullet.

(— _Not the fastest, decently sized,_ ** _Meteora_** —)

The house behind me exploded outwards, as a deafening 'boom' echoed in my ears.

I blinked at the spot behind me, smoke rising from the wreckage of a home. "—It missed?"

 ** _"Mori, you DID dodge… But it seemed like he was aiming with a Radar, so it's to be expected, I guess."_**

"…' _He_ '?" I glanced up at the sky, before continuing to the brisk jog I was keeping up 'till I met up with Yuma. "So that _was_ Kitazoe's random Meteora… it's easier to dodge than I thought it'd be."

I paused, the ' _crunch_ ' ' _crunch_ ' of snow underneath my feet being the only sound echoing from around.

"… Is anyone near him right now, Shiori?" I questioned, eye flickering around to the houses surrounding me. "It'll get pretty annoying after a while, so someone's bound to go after him soon…"

 ** _"Uhhh… Wait."_** She hummed. **_"I thought Ninomiya was over there a while ago, but I think he disappeared from the Radar too, and other than that…? No one else is really around Kitazoe."_**

" _Annoying_." I huffed, pushing just a bit more speed into my steps. "Chika is within shooting range of him, but there's no point in needlessly showing her location if Yuma and I aren't even there to collect the point."

Chika didn't answer, but I could hear some shuffling over the radio. "Imouto, are you ok?"

 ** _"… Yeah, I'm fine."_**

I raised an eyebrow. "… Okay, if you say so. But don't move from your position, there're two snipers that can shoot at you, and there's a better chance that you're within their range."

 ** _"Alright."_**

She paused at that, as the conversation drew to a close. I was still curious and slightly worried, but Chika wouldn't really want me bringing it up during a match.

-0-

"… Usami," Hyuse spoke up, still standing behind the operator to watch the screens. "Connect me to the _gremlin_."

She raised an eyebrow, before gesturing over to a nearby set of headphones on a shelf. "I have an extra pair, bring them over. Plug them in, and I'll set it up… I guess."

Hyuse nodded in acceptance, not really enjoying being ordered around, but understanding that he had asked in the first place. After collecting said item, he shoved the plug into the socket that Shiori directed him to before he took a seat on the chair that they had brought for him to sit in.

"Alright, there you go." Shiori nodded after clicking on a few things, right as she began directing all her attention to the screen once more. "Don't distract him too much."

The Neighbour huffed indignantly at that, just as Yuma's voice echoed over the speakers in the headphones. **_"—ello, hello? Who is speaking~?"_**

Hyuse also frowned at the tone of voice. It was too lax for a battlefield ( _too lax for a war-front, too lazy for a war zone, too carefree when you could be killed at any moment_ ) but he leaned back in his seat to speak anyway, in a tone too low for Shiori to hear.

"… You're going to lose."

There was a decent amount of silence after that, before Yuma's voice returned, as cheery as it had been a moment ago. **_"Jolly, why would you say that? Ye' of little faith—"_**

"Your teammates have more openings than anyone else," Hyuse shot back, thoroughly finished with the fake pleasant tone. "Everyone is targeting you guys. There's no hope of victory in this unless you have a goddamn miracle up your sleeve." He paused, before carefully wording his next sentence to make it clear that it was only half-meant as a joke. "If Tamakoma does win… I'd be more worried about the level of strength of this organization as a whole."

 ** _"Then, do you want to make a bet?"_**

Hyuse paused, eyes narrowing as they flickered back to Shiori's screens. "… A _bet_?"

 ** _"Yeah. Mori doesn't really care about this win right now, I think she knows we can't win. But if she can manage to take out at least ONE of these so-called, '_ out-of-her-league _' captains…"_**

The brunette could practically hear the smirk in Yuma's voice.

 ** _"… Then you owe me a favour. And vice-versa, of course."_**

It must have been the general ridiculousness, the chaos, the ' _carefree_ ' attitude that Hyuse ( _apparently_ ) hated, it must have all been getting to him.

After all, why else would he accept to something so childish?

" _Fine_ , have it your way."

-0-

It started with a quick flash of blonde in the corner of my eye before I was returning to my instincts once again as I threw up a quick shield.

Bullet after bullet slammed into the protective layer, only successfully making a small, thin crack in the edge of the shield.

And there Inukai was, standing on a nearby house with his gun aimed at my head.

"Looks like you're the first person I run into!" He cheers, jumping down from the roof airily. " _Lucky_ me."

"… And I presume…" I sigh, lifting up a hand, a cube of Asteroid bullets forming underneath my fingertips. "That you're here to stop me from meeting up with Yuma?"

"Got it in one!" He sing-songed, before lifting his gun level with his head, and firing again.

-0-

 ** _"Yuma, Mori has engaged in battle, you need to head over there quickly!"_**

Yuma huffed, just finishing his conversation with Hyuse, as he pressed his foot harder into the ground. "I'm going, I'm going…—"

His eyes flickered with the instincts of a war-trained soldier, as he took a quick leap backwards.

A sword buried itself into the wall in front of him, not causing enough damage to take the whole balcony down, but still scoring deep cuts into the cement.

Yuma tilted his head, glancing at the black-haired attacker in the suit. "… A diversion?"

"Perhaps." Tsuji glanced back, turning his body ever so slightly. "… It seems like I'll have to stay here to hold the two of you off."

Yuma eyes flickered back too, crimson red clashing with sharp yellow.

"… Hey, _gremlin_." Kageura grinned, rearing his arm back in preparation. "Let's play."

"Aw, is that my nickname now? Whatever, I'm kind of needed elsewhere…" Yuma sighed, bending his knees as his eyes narrowed. "I also have another bet to win, so I'd _really_ appreciate if you'd let me go."

Tsuji drew his sword, and Kageura smirked.

Yuma, who was seemingly resigned to his fate, sighed while forming a quick blade in his hand.

Koarai, standing behind a nearby building, took a deep breath in as he prepared to leap into the fray. "… _Jeeeeeez_ … This is some really intense air…!"

-0-

I crashed through the window, glass shards raining down and bouncing off of my Trion body's limbs as I quickly scrambled to my feet.

"When fighting—as a shooter—" I dashed down the hall, before spinning on my feet as I recognized the blonde step through the break in the window I had made. "— _Don't let your opponent get close!_ "

Both hands formed large Asteroid cubes, launching themselves at Inukai's relatively limited shield.

He took a fierce step backwards, barely dodging the bullets that shattered the floor underneath his feet. The few stray bullets that made it through were blocked with a few quick shields, causing Inukai to grin.

"Hey, you didn't let me get close that time!" He lifted his gun once again, shooting a few quick bullets that I managed to dodge. "Getting' better, Mikumo-chan!"

I smiled, not yet willing to forgo the full-attack to form a shield. "I didn't exactly have anywhere to go **_but_** up."

He returned the expression at the joke before his eyes narrowed slightly. "But you'll need to do better than that—"

I saw a quick flicker of black in the window behind him, before I _grudgingly-but-quickly_ dropped one arm of bullets in preparation to form a shield.

Inukai abruptly jolted, doing his best to duck before a blur of black and white shattered the window, and sliced off his arm.

Okudera— _alone_ , I noted with relief—preparing to land nimbly on the ground just a little ways away from the blonde gunner. Inukai could only sigh, snatching his gun out of the air as he glanced at the attacker.

"… So you were around too, huh?"

Before Okudera could land, Inukai shot a series of rounds into the wall behind the brunette, shattering the cement and causing a decent cloud of dust to kick up around the break in the wall.

Okudera landed on both feet, holding up his sword as his eyes flickered between us two. "… You missed."

Inukai grinned, and I caught a brief hint of mischievousness in it as my eyes widened.

" _You_ weren't what I was _aiming_ for."

And I dropped both arms this time, raising both my hands to form a double-shield to block the hail of Hound bullets that flew out from the smoke, aiming at both Okudera and myself.

While the Trion-pumped bullets peppered and tore away at my shields, I barely managed to block all of them before they stopped. Okudera was not so lucky—having had his back facing the broken wall—as the holes in his chest leaked white fog.

 ** _"Combat body limit exceeded. Bail out."_**

And once again, that familiar white streak painted itself into the sky. But I had my eyes focused elsewhere, the shades on my eyes glinting as I caught sight of the familiar figure emerging from the dust.

Ninomiya, with the Bagworm still in the process of disappearing from around his shoulders, stepped into the building with Inukai now at his side.

I knew a lot of swear words ( _and when I say_ a lot _, I mean,_ a **lot** ), but I don't think any of them could properly express how screwed I probably was right now.

-0-

 ** _"Yuma, change of plans. Keep Tsuji and Kageura there, if you can. Don't bring them over here quite yet, or else I'm screwed."_**

"Got it," Yuma hummed, dodging a quick blade from Koarai and making a half-assed block to avert Kageura's Scorpion away from his face. "Why not now?"

 ** _"I want to see if Azuma will try shooting at one of us through the building. Okudera just got taken out, and he might deem it necessary to shoot before the fight progresses too much."_**

"Understood." And then, Yuma was ignoring the world around him once again, only focused on the three attackers before him.

-0-

 ** _"Ninomiya, what's the plan?"_** Inukai hummed, silently speaking into his earpiece and Mori eyed the both of them warily. **_"I thought you'd go after Kitazoe for sure, but then you came over here instead."_**

 ** _"Tsuji is holding off Kuga since he can't fight Mikumo,"_** Ninomiya commented instead, both hands still jammed in his pockets confidently. **_"Right now, our priority is to make Amatori reveal her position, since she will likely try taking out the building with a cannon to avert our attention… Then, Azuma will head after her, and most of the snipers will be marked."_**

 ** _"Oh, sneaky, sneaky."_** Inukai chuckled, standing up from his crouched position on the floor as he rolled his shoulders. **_"Should we attack first, to pressure the cannon more?"_**

He got his answer, in the form of the bullets that Ninomiya formed at his side.

 ** _"I guess so,"_** He sighed, lifting his gun up once again, only with one arm this time. "Oh wow, that's _really_ off bala—"

He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence.

( _White Trion gushes like a fountain, glowing fog escaping from the hole because that was_ ** _fatal_** _, that was a_ ** _fatal shot_** —)

He didn't get a chance to say another word before there was a bullet through his head.

No one got to say another word, as Ninomiya spun around in somewhat-disguised shock, Mori glanced up with the same shock-mixed-with-confusion eyes, because that was not an _Ibis_ bullet, that was a _Lightning_ —

And Mori's eyes widened in horror, because she could hear the distinct sound of heavy breathing over the communicator, she could hear hyperventilating, and she could hear Shiori cry out in shock as Inukai's body slowly cracked and shattered.

 ** _"Combat body limit exceeded. Bail out."_**

 ** _"CHIKA!"_**

( _"Because if no one_ ** _thinks_** _they'll shoot, then there's no reason to be wary, is there?"_ )

-0-

Chika struggled to breathe.

(— _I shot him I shot him oh god, I really shot him right through the head_ _I'm so,_ ** _so sorry I didn't mean it_** _—_ )

And she shook, but didn't stumble backward from where she had been watching Inukai slowly break and leak Trion from the bullet hole in his head, watching every second carefully with no small amount of horror. She was watching, she couldn't bring herself to look away as Inukai's body slowly swayed from the impact and teetered towards the ground for what felt like hours.

(— _It isn't real, it isn't real, it's just a simulation, he's fine, you didn't_ ** _just kill_** —)

 ** _"CHIKA!"_**

Chika struggled to breathe. Because she only wanted to not be a burden, and suddenly she was collapsing under the weight of her morals and fear over hurting another human being.

( _I never wanted to hurt anyone_ …)

 ** _"No, there's really not enough time… Replica sent a mini-Replica ahead earlier, and just confirmed for me. The Neighbour guy is heading right towards me, I don't have enough time to get back to base without endangering the people there. There are tons of defenceless engineers and business workers, yeah, but…Chika's at HQ too."_**

( _…I just wanted to_ ** _help_** _her, since I_ ** _couldn't_** _before_ …)

-0-

 _ **A/N - I've realized that I've been missing a little something called... 'cliffhangers', in my recent chapters.**_

 _ **Just as a note, I've been planning this one scene since the start of this fanfic-and during World Triggers hiatus.**_


	21. Papermoon

Ema didn't often get angry.

Actually, not a single member of Kageura squad did, barring their _easily_ aggravated captain himself.

There were a few points in time where someone had badmouthed their captain when they had been around—and all of them had made a silent agreement to make said people _regret_ ever being born—but those were very specific circumstances that were usually swept under the rug fairly quickly.

This was different.

Because when Ema had met Chika a few short days after the invasion, she had been _completely_ and _utterly broken_ up about whatever had happened. She had been _alone_ , she had been running herself into the ground for _who-knows-what reason_ , and he had worried.

She was alone. She wanted to be alone, alone to reflect on whatever had happened. Obviously, that had changed when Touma decided to pick the few booths beside her during sniping practice on a whim, and Ema hadn't let that chance slip once they had met her.

He asked her what had happened, and she had folded. Because she was _alone_ , and with no one to confide in, it was so _unbearably lonely_ for her.

She was so, _so_ regretful that she couldn't help. She couldn't do a thing while her sister was out there, suffering for protecting her, and Chika was tearing herself up over it.

Ema had done whatever he could. He gave her tips on sniping, he tried supporting her, he tried to make her to take breaks whenever she could because she was _running herself into the ground_ , he…

He had… gained a crush on the girl with the determination and power of a thousand suns.

( _He had watched her slowly aim through the scope of his Eaglet. He had watched through that narrow glass pipe, as she took a deep breath, switched from Ibis to Lightning, and despite the obvious fear,_ fear, **fear** _present on her expression, fired at her target_.)

And for the first time since meeting her, Ema had regretted giving her those tips in sniping. Because _yes_ , they had helped her grow stronger, but now they were just helping her crumble away.

( _He could register the white streak in the sky that signified a Bail out. He understood what it meant, as he watched her slowly begin to crumble, slowly fall apart as her breath came in short_.)

Ema rarely got mad.

Rarely did he ever feel that burning rage that made you feel like _you could do anything_.

( _He watched her equip an Ibis. He watched her lift up the heavy barrel once again, determined to keep going despite how_ ** _quickly_** _she was breaking to pieces_.)

Because he **_would_** do anything.

-0-

 ** _"Inukai's down!"_**

Kako raised a delicate hand to her mouth, ever-present smile wavering ever-so-slightly. ** _"…_ Oh _. Oh my."_**

 ** _"Eh? What is it, Kako-San?"_**

 ** _"Well, it's just…"_**

The female captain hummed, twirling a strand of hair between her fingers. **_"… I was under the assumption that Amatori-chan… Couldn't shoot people."_**

Ayatsuji gaped for a moment, completely dumbstruck. **_"W-what?"_**

 ** _"Well, she's never scored a point before, despite having many opportunities…"_** A heavy sigh from Kako. **_"I was so sure about it, after that all-out battle between the snipers during their last match... Since she never even TRIED grabbing a point. But I guess I was mistaken?"_**

 ** _"No,"_** Kazama agreed, eyes trained unwaveringly on the large screen in front of them. **_"I shared that opinion. But something… Something has changed."_**

-0-

It went by far too quickly to properly comprehend.

Chika… Chika _shot_ Inukai.

Chika shot someone. Oh god, she _shot_ someone.

And as quickly as the thought flew through Mori's mind, it stuck furiously and refused to leave even as the world began to explode around her.

" _What the_ —"

Another blast to the left of the building they were in, and another in the distance that was closer to Yuma's battle with Koarai, Kageura, and Tsuji.

Mori's breath came out as a hiss through her teeth as a hand clapped the side of her head. " _Shiori_ , come in!"

 ** _"Chika—Chika just shot at Inukai!"  
_**

"I know, _I know!_ " Mori struggled to have her voice heard over the explosions of Ibis shots—Of Chika's Ibis shots. "But we need to pull ourselves together, we _need_ to go stop Chika—"

Mori's eyes flickered from behind the sunglasses as her hand instinctively formed a shield.

A spray of bullets clapped into the shield, and Mori narrowed her eyes and stared—No, glared—at Ninomiya. Ninomiya who had, for the most part, shaken off his surprise and continued the fight.

"I don't have _time_ for you," Mori hissed, forming a cube of Asteroid in her hand. " _Get the_ ** _fuck_** _out of my way_."

-0-

"Ho- _LY_ crap!" Koarai used his Grasshopper to jump away from another Ibis shot, which seemed to all be concentrating on both Yuma's fight and Mori's. "What the heck is _that_?!"

The only response he got was another Ibis shot, which had aimed a bit closer to Tsuji this time. Everyone jumped away from the cannon-fire, not eager to attempt blocking it with any kind of shield.

Tsuji took the opportunity to launch himself at the distracted Azuma squad member, slicing downwards without any hesitation as he chopped off the teen's head.

Without another second, the world lit up with white, and an announcement rang out clearly.  
 ** _  
"Combat body limit exceeded. Bail out."_**

Tsuji took a deep breath, before lifting his Kogetsu to block the incoming Scorpion from Kageura.

Though, Yuma was standing perfectly still on one of the rooftops nearby. Rather than watching the movements of the other fighters in the vicinity, like he should have been doing… His red eyes were trained clearly on the building where all the shots were originating from.

He had heard it over the radio too, obviously. Chika… _Chika_ shot someone.

( _How had things gotten so serious, so quickly?_ )

Tsuji leapt back from the blade, positioning his sword perpendicular to the ground and pointing directly at his opponent before he lunged back forwards, trying to get Kageura to defend.

The spiky-haired teen only scoffed, flicking out a wrist ( _Mantis_ ) and stretching out a blade to swipe at Tsuji.

Tsuji formed a shield to block the thin blade, still on course to attack the captain attacker, but—

Another explosion, different from the rest echoing around them, blasted into Tsuji's unprotected side, causing critical damage.

His eyes flicker down to the gaping wound, cracks slowly making their way around his body. "… The Mantis was only to make me use my shield, so I would be unprotected."

"Who cares _how_ it happened?" Kageura scoffed, lifting up his Scorpion one final time to stab into Tsuji's throat. " _You're dead_ , so just shut up."

He jabbed downwards, and the dust clouds around them lit up with the familiar glow once more.

 ** _"Combat body limit exceeded. Bail out."_**

And in the distance, Kageura can see another white streak, similar to the one that just shot up form in front of him. The sight caused him to scowl before he glanced around, eyes finally meeting Yuma's form on the rooftop.

 ** _"Sorry Kage, Azuma sniped me the second I revealed my position to shoot at Tsuji!"_**

"It's _fine_ Zoe, whatever." Kageura re-formed his Scorpion while preparing to jump at the white-haired teen. "I dunno why the cannon girl went psycho, but I _better_ get a rematch with this shrimp."

-0-

"Does ' _I don't have enough time_ '—" Mori was cut off as she tossed up a lazy shield in front of her eyes, barely flinching as the carefully aimed bullets battered into the see-through surface. "—' _for this_ ', mean **_anything_** to you?"

Ninomiya's narrowed eyes were the only response she got, before another wave of Asteroid bullets—a near equal amount coming from _both_ shooters—cancelling each other out once again.

At some point during the concentrated firefight, they had utterly decimated the walls around them, sending the building crashing to the ground in large and easily avoidable chunks of rubble. It had probably been that along with the handful of the unfocused Ibis-shots Chika was throwing around.

Mori clicked her tongue, eyes darting towards her sister's direction behind her sunglasses.

' _If Yuma or I don't leave_ ** _soon_** …' Her next breath came out ragged with anger and frustration, eyes burning a hole into the shooter in front of her. '… _Someone else is going to go after Chika. Likely Azuma at this rate_.'

Ninomiya probably knew that too. But if Chika was willing to shoot people now, she was a force to be reckoned with, and likely not someone he'd be enthusiastic to fight on his own…

' _So he's hoping she and Azuma will wear each other out, huh?_ '

Mori's eyes sharpened, a furious murmur slipping out from under her breath. "This fight is going nowhere." Her hands twitched, preparing to completely switch tactics in an effort to get this battle to go somewhere, to just change _something_ —

Another sniper shot, barely blocked by an instinctual shield from Ninomiya.

Both shooters eyes widened, head snapping to the side where the snipe had originated from…

It was an _Ibis_ , at near-point-blank range.

And there Ema was, standing on the closest nearby roof, sniper rifle still pointed stubbornly on Ninomiya. Another shot sounded out, and another focused, double shield was formed.

A subtle head jerk from Ema, and Ninomiya was the only one to bat an eye as Mori sped away.

By the time Ninomiya had recovered enough to shoot back at anyone, his original opponent was _long_ gone.

"… I didn't know you had a soft spot for Tamakoma," Ninomiya cut in sharply. " _Ema_."

The sniper glared back, and if anyone else were present, they'd be stunned at the amounts of pure rage being bottled up inside his eyes.

Not another word was exchanged before the firefight resumed.

-0-

"Oi, get back here!" Kageura growled, launching himself over the rooftop and after Yuma. "Stop running and _fight_ , shrimp!"

"I don't have time to deal with you," Yuma called back, unconsciously echoing the words his captain had similarly spoken from far away. "Go away, or go after Ninomiya. I don't care either way."

The brunette's scowl twisted, just as the two of them landed on a roof at the same time. "… What happened all of a fuckin' sudden? It's like a damn switch flipped…"

Yuma didn't yet try kicking off to the next building, and left the moment to hang in the air… Before he began to turn, ever so slowly.

If it were anyone else, they might have cowered in fear at the crimson eyes cutting straight through the air. As it was though, Kageura managed to suppress a shudder—not at the expression mind you, but rather the _lack_ of emotion directed at him… Despite the undeniable poison contained within his eyes.

"… _I don't have time for this._ " The words were clear concise, and nothing more than a statement.

And ultimately, it was what stopped Kageura from chasing after him as he stepped right off the edge of the roof.

A distant light echoed in the background. Ema bailing out wasn't much of a surprise, but he lasted much longer than any other sniper **should** have—being within the range of a master class shooter.

But Ema had done his part. Mori was going after Chika now, and he could tell without a shadow of doubt that the latter would be _fine_.

-0-

Yuma huffed, finally having the stubborn attacker off his tail—as he reached up a hand to deploy the Bagworm.

It suddenly occurred to him that the Ibis shots had slowly simmered down, and at one point, had stopped completely. "Shiori, what happened to Chika?"

 ** _"I don't know, she cut off her communicator—"_** Shiori grumbled, a rare frustration making its way into her words as the quick 'tap' 'tap' of her keyboard echoed out. **_"—_ Goddamnit _, this is the invasion all over again!"_**

 ** _"I resent that remark."_**

"Oh good, Mori." Yuma summoned up his Grasshopper without any trouble, pausing in his spot as he waited for the words he knew were coming. "You shook Ninomiya off your tail?"  
 ** _  
"More like I had help. Seems like Kageura squad has beef with Ninomiya as well—with how furious Yuzuru looked when I had left."_**

"Hm, Kageura left me alone just a second ago." Yuma's hand tensed, fingers flexing as his Grasshopper charged up. Though it seemed Shiori was just as prepared as he was, as their next words hissed through the radio in perfect sync.

 **"… Your orders, captain?"**

There was no hesitation. There was no pause because Chika was theirs, and this rank wars match could go screw itself to hell for all they cared.

Chika needed help. Right now.

 ** _"Deal with Azuma for me, and keep him in place until either Ninomiya or Kageura take each other out."_**

Yuma was launching himself in the air before his next words were out.

"Roger, captain."

-0-

With Azuma chasing after Chika, all we needed to do was use her as a landmark, and with a quick scan of the perimeter…

Well, the white-camouflaged Bagworm was rather easy to catch sight of, with a side effect like this.

Once he'd been found, Shiori relayed the information to Yuma, and with him distracted? I officially had my opening to make it to Chika.

( _My sister. My friend, my family, **my** **sister**_.)

And I already knew what we needed to do.

"Chika."

A sharp breath, and a small head of short black hair whipping around.

There was fear in her eyes. There was hesitation, horror, and a glint of determination that made me wince, being coupled with the previous emotions. Her hands were gripping her Ibis rifle like a vice, and her breaths came out shaky. I knew the only thing keeping her from running out of breath was her Trion body's lack-of-need to breathe.

"… Chika." I tried to make my voice as reassuring as I could. I was never all that great with the feelings-stuff though, so I probably failed along the way. "You don't need to do this anymore."

Evidently, that was the wrong thing to say— _just guessing_ —by the way that her next breath was closer to a sob.

I took a few more steps, making my way across the rooftop as I prayed to God that they weren't broadcasting this on the large-screen in the rank wars lobby. "Chika, everything will be _fine_. I need you to take deep breaths, and I'll walk towards you. You can tell me to stop whenever, just shake your head and I won't move."

She nodded with what looked like as much confidence as I usually had, and I took a couple more steps. with a few more moments of her failed attempts at calming herself, I hesitantly wrapped my arms around her and brought her head to my shoulder. The instant I had my arms around her, she practically tossed the rifle aside before launching herself into my arms.

I combed my gloved hands through her hair, finally murmuring under my breath once she had caught her breath. "C'mon Chika, everything will be okay, _I promise_. I just need you to bail out for me, okay?"

"… I—I can't. _I c-cant, I_ —"

"You _need_ to, sister." I made sure my voice didn't rise above a whisper. Although with what had just happened, I'm not sure if it could have regardless. "I— _fuck_ —Chika, you're halfway through a panic attack. The battlefield is the **_last_** place you should be right now. C'mon, Shiori is waiting for you, you'll be fine—"

"She was… _S-she was waiting for us back then_ , _t-too_."

I abruptly found my words caught in my throat.

Chika sniffled, but there was a distinct lack of tears as she tried composing herself. "… She was w-waiting for us d-during the invasion… too. _And I remember_ , v-very well, when I bailed out then."

"Chika, if that's what this is about, I'm fine," I swore, suddenly thankful that Shiori wasn't speaking quite yet as I had originally planned. "This is a _rank wars_ match, we're not under attack again—"

" _I can't shake off the th-thoughts_ ," She stubbornly interrupted, shaking her head. "It's like when I shoot, ' _what if it was real?_ ' ' _what if someone could die?_ ' I—I know I'm being irrational, but I can't help it. I don't think I'll _ever_ change, I don't think I'll ever get _better_ —"

-0-

 ** _It had been right after I woke up from the invasion—right after my talk with Yuma and meeting Kageura. After all, mom had given me a chance to talk with Chika as well, and I needed to formally apologize to her as well._**

 ** _"Sorry to… Invite you here so late, Chika."_**

 ** _I rubbed my head sheepishly, shutting the door with some difficulty—considering I was balancing precariously on a crutch on my other side._**

 ** _"It's fine, I just got here myself," She waved off, a small smile of her own forming. "… I see you made up with Yuma?"_**

 ** _"Geh." I winced, rubbing the back of my head as I collapsed into the couch—my crutch being tossed somewhere off to the side. "You make it sound like we were arguing… We were just hesitant to talk."_**

 ** _"Right, right." She teased, laughing quietly. "… Thank you for apologizing earlier, by the way."_**

 ** _"You're letting me off too easily, Chika." I huffed, opening my arms to silently offer a hug. "I didn't even get to apologize to you directly, it was just a general apology for everyone there."_**

 ** _Thankfully, she took me up on my offer and leaned into my arms while wrapping her own around my torso. "Is that so?"_**

 ** _A small huff of air escaped through my nose, and I gently set my chin on her head. "… I'm really sorry, Chika. I can't express how much remorse I feel for what I did, but… I'm really glad you're okay."_**

 ** _"I'm glad that—that you are too." Neither of us commented on the stutter. "I… I can't do that again. Please, never—"_**

 ** _"It'll never happen again, Chika," I reassured, shutting my eyes slowly. "… After all, I don't think you'd exactly take it lying down, would you?"_**

 ** _She giggled again, and we just enjoyed the comfort of being in each others' company._**

 ** _I was just glad to have my sister back, to have my friend by my side._**

 ** _(I thought that day was finished haunting us. Haunting THEM.)_**

-0-

" _Chika_." My tone was now firm, as I pulled her shoulders away from me to look her in the eyes. "This isn't about ' _getting better_ '. I guarantee you, I have the best team I could ever ask for already. You and Yuma are _more_ than I could ever ask for, so don't ever talk about ' _getting better_ '. And although I can't fault you for wanting to improve, you are the _best_ I could ever ask for."

A shaky laugh spilt out of her lips as her eyes tilted toward the ground. "Aren't they the same thing? _I just_ —"

"Maybe they are." I denied. "But you keep saying 'better' like there's something is inherently **_wrong_** with you. That's what I can't accept. I _can't accept_ —" I choked up slightly. "—I can't accept you thinking like that, because that's what I used to do. I _still do_ sometimes, in fact."

I got the sudden feeling that she would have been calling me a hypocrite, if not for the gravity of the situation.

"Chika… I'm getting the feeling we'll be talking about this later, but with Yuma and Shiori beside us, since they're _just_ as worried. For now, I just need you to know that _I'll be fine_. That Yuma is beside me, that we're stronger than we were before." A small smile grew, and I made sure my sister could see it. "So… you can Bail out without a worry. Yuma and I will be done soon, and _goat-baby_ can keep you company while we kick ass."

She giggled a little at that, and the swell of relief I felt was absolutely incomparable.

"Will you wait for us?"

"… _Y-yeah_. I can do that much."

With a small voice, still quivering with fear and trauma from weeks back, Chika raised a hand to her ear. ** _"B-bail out."_**

With a flash of white, I found myself alone once again.

But rather than the hopelessness I was overcome with last time she had bailed out beside me, I was overcome with a wave of determination.

Determination, not to win. But to prove everyone that called Chika weak—wrong.

Because the look in her eyes… Was anything **_but_** weak.

I summoned a spider—almost absentmindedly—as I faced the edge of the roof and off towards the battle. **_"… Yuma, could you buy some time for me?"_**

-0-

Chika was so, so scared when Mori had appeared next to her and asked her to Bail out.

( _I'm sorry I didn't mean to disappoint you just please don't make me leave_ ** _not like before you almost_** **_DIED last time_** —)

But Mori wasn't disappointed. Not in the least, and looking back on it… Chika doesn't know how she mistook the undeniable worry in her sister's eyes, for anything other than what it was.

She and Yuma and Shiori were worried. Worried about how much trauma Chika was putting herself through, still convinced that she needed to do this all alone _no matter what_.

But Chika had a familiar lesson that she still needed to learn, one that Mori was still in the process of getting used to.

' _You don't need to do this alone_.'

Chika would no doubt be fighting off nightmares for a few days, still scared of _hurting_ people, still scared of _shooting_ people…

But she'd get through it. Because she had wonderful, _amazing_ friends to help her with that.

-0-

"… Strange." Azuma quirked an eyebrow, still the epitome of calm and composed. "I could have sworn that Kageura was chasing after you… And I should know that he wouldn't have lost you so easily."

"Ah, how should _I_ know where he went?" Yuma shrugged, hand lifting up to unclip the Bagworm from around his shoulders. "Wherever he went… Is _anyone's_ guess."

A small explosion in the background cut through the air like a knife, a black blur jumping to avoid a round of Hound bullets was seen peeking over the edge of the houses.

( _They were closer than Yuma expected. Maybe he should just take a shot in the dark and go for it?_ )

"… Well, I guess I have a pretty good guess now." Yuma chuckled, now as relaxed as a sloth—since he now knew that both of his teammates were safe. "Looks like he and Ninomiya were tearing the place up, huh?"

"Indeed." Azuma could recognize the eyes of a well-trained soldier anywhere, and safe to say, he wasn't keen on making the first move. "… I was sure that Ninomiya was facing off against Mikumo, as well. Would you happen to know anything about that?"

"Hm, maybe, _maybe_ …" Yuma sighed, forming a Scorpion in his dominant hand and pointing it directly at Azuma—whilst the other hand smoothly slid behind him and out of view.

Azuma was smart enough to not direct **_all_** of his attention to the one blade, but the other limb's movement had looked completely natural, and completely slipped out of his field of vision… Without issue.

A Grasshopper formed in Yuma's hidden hand, and Azuma found himself being launched at the nearby battle between captains, with Yuma not far behind.

Azuma twisted in the air, aimed his Lightning at the white-haired attacker, blasting off an arm as both of them touched the ground. Right in the middle of the slowly escalating battle. Right in front of Kageura, right in front of Ninomiya.

The older sniper unequipped the Bagworm in an instant, quickly switching to full-guard and barely blocking the bullets from Ninomiya.

Kageura snorted, sending an offhand Mantis swipe towards Yuma the moment his feet hit the ground. "Nice of you to _finally_ drop in, gremlin."

"Well, I dealt with my business," Yuma grinned, finally gaining some life back in his eyes as he blocked the Scorpion. "So for now, I've been told to deal with you chumps."

Ninomiya's eye twitched, apparently at the end of his patience.

-0-

I buried a cube of Trion in the building crack, Bagworm set comfortably over my shoulders as the sounds of battle echoed from just behind the wall. I prayed to whatever deity was up there, that no one would destroy the wall as I quickly switched Triggers.

A spider bullet formed expertly in my hand, and I spun it around for good measure before aiming it at the Trion cube I had left before.

 ** _"Just a little longer. Hang on for just a little longer."_**

-0-

It was startlingly clear to Yuma that he was at a disadvantage.

Azuma _had_ managed to blast his arm off after all, and he didn't have much luck dodging that blow in the air beyond making sure the hit wasn't fatal. But it still dealt significant damage, and Yuma found himself on the losing end of the battle.

The losing end, where, he was being ganged up on from all sides—A quick Ibis bullet to strike through any focused shields, a Mantis aimed at his throat, and honestly? At this point, Ninomiya was being the least discriminatory with Hound bullets to spare for **_everyone_** in the area.

Azuma was targeting him because he was the easiest target, Kageura just wanted the fucking rematch, and apparently couldn't wait. Or was he just upset about the ' _chumps_ ' remark?

Temper temper.

' _Either way_ —'

A bullet skimmed the edge of Yuma's foot as he executed an impressive backflip out of the way.

'— _I'm going down, and I'm going down_ ** _soon_**.'

He still had a job to do though, and until he got the signal, he needed to keep everyone here.

Azuma lifted up the barrel of the rifle, taking his chance to fire at Yuma despite the amount of Hound bullets raining down on the three of them.

A summarily successful shot, seeing as how it pierced a large hole in Yuma's leg before he could kick off the ground. Grasshopper was—sadly—out of the equation, as both of his Trigger spots were being taken up by shields at the moment.

"Don't you guys have _better_ things to do than pick on a middle schooler?" Yuma sighed, feeling his Trion drain _much_ quicker than it had been before. "Seriously..."

Yuma's eye twitched, ears picking up a quiet ' ** _done_** ' over the communications line, before—

'… _Ah, I've been beheaded_.'

Kageura growled from behind Yuma, having soundlessly moved behind the short teen, Mantis not even needed with how _close_ he had gotten to Yuma.

Though his expression was nothing short of thunderous.

"You assholes shouldn't have forgotten about me."

Yuma chuckled airily as his Trion body split apart, ears faintly picking up the next words that unexpectedly cut through the tension.

" _Yeah, well, maybe you guys shouldn't have forgotten about_ ** _me_**."

A bright light, the ' _thud_ ' of the mattress beneath his body.

' _It's up to you now, captain_.'

-0-

I stood in the empty street just a little ways off, eyes half-lidded as I stared down each of the captains in front of me.

As Yuma's Trion body became nothing more than a faint light in the sky, each of the three captains turned towards me, each at their own pace, each with their own demeanour.

Kageura, with irritation and anger flickering in and out of his eyes, expression drawn into a tense scowl. Caution, directed at both captains to the left and right of him, but what reason is there to be wary of the one directly in front?

Azuma, with years of experience and skill behind his carefully blank look. Ibis held in a grip prepared to aim and fire at a moments notice, with eyes that could figure out each and every weakness and strength with one look.

Ninomiya, with strategic sense and a determination to return his squad to the A-rankers they once were, before Hatohara had ruined them. With a condescending wariness directed at Kageura and I, and a respectful caution present while he kept an eye on Azuma.

( ** _"Because if no one thinks they'll shoot, then there's no reason to be wary, is there?"_** )

… I'm not even a threat to them.

The closest thing to that on our team had been Yuma, with Chika and I being apparently harmless—if albeit destructive. But Chika had _proven_ herself more than capable of setting aside her fear to take the first shot if her teammates were in danger. If her loved ones were in danger.

Now, I just need to do the same.

( _I will make them_ ** _regret_** _underestimating Tamakoma-2_.)

"… Well, this is a nice gathering, isn't it?" I began conversationally, a lazy grin tugging at my expression. "Only the captains left. We're running out of time as it is… Any chance we could call a truce?"

"Not a chance." Kageura disagreed, near-growling at Ninomiya. "Fuck _this_ guy, I'm going to chop his fucking head off."

Ninomiya's eye twitched.

"I'm also going to have to decline." A small amount of amusement leaked through Azuma's expression.

" _Ah_ , well that's a shame." I sighed, lifting up my arm—which had been previously hidden behind my back. "Do you guys know what _this_ is—?"

A Lightning-fast shot aimed at my arm— _far to quick to be anything other than_ ** _a Lightning_** —which I tossed up a shield to block.

After a few more moments of tense silence, I smiled pleasantly at Azuma. Azuma, being the one who had formed a Lightning rifle at the speed of light, pun not intended. " _Now_ , that wasn't very nice!"

He lowered the barrel lightly, neither of us showing any reaction to the now amplified tension in the air. "Well, I learned just a few minutes ago… _Not to let anyone from Tamakoma get the_ ** _first_** _shot_."

We didn't pay any mind to the shocked expressions being directed at me either. What, was it _really_ so surprising that I had blocked a Lightning shot at point black range? _What_ , I'm _not_ supposed to be able to do that?

( _You don't say_!)

"Ah, you're probably correct," I cheered, clapping half-mockingly. "Can I continue, _or_ …?"

The tense silence was my cue to go on, so I pulled my hands out of the clap.

"So, _this_ right here!" I lifted up my hand once again, shaking the **_wire_** in my hand back and forth like a trophy. "This here, _is what'll mark the end of the match_!"

There was utter, dead silence. I shook the Spider-generated wire a few more times for good measure, putting slight emphasis on how the string was pulled taut from where is originated from around the corner somewhere—out of sight.

"… You're joking." Ninomiya's voice was flat, and I took a great deal of amusement in it.

"No, I'm **_dead_** serious!" I smiled, lowering my hand again, but keeping the string in plain sight. "Do you wanna test my theory?"

"What do you mean by ' _end of the match_ '?" Azuma pointed out curiously, gun not lowering from where he'd been holding it. "Is that an implication that you can take us all out with _one shot_?"

Kageura snorted disbelievingly. I was honestly surprised he had been quiet for so long.

"What do _you_ think?" My smile never wavered. "Well, I guess I could toss you guys a hint. I can't guarantee that **_everyone_** will die, but I'm confident I can get pretty darn close!"

 _Oh_ , they didn't like that.

Judging by Kageura's now slightly bent legs, his clenched hand, Ninomiya's slowly raising arm, his expression thoroughly through with the topic—

I didn't bat an eye, because I had my eyes on Azuma's already aimed gun.

I didn't both trying to dodge, or even throwing up another shield. Because I couldn't give a _damn_ if he stole a point by killing me...

… They're finished.

Azuma's Lighting bullet struck true, blasting a hole straight through my chest—where my heart would be in my flesh-and-blood body, _and_ —

I took note of their expressions, grinned something that felt almost feral, before yanking the string.

-0-

A white light signalled Mori's defeat, and Ninomiya and Kageura stood in stunned silence for a few moments.

Their eyes were trained on the smoke cloud that originated from the bail out, but they were more focused… on what they were _hearing_.

The instant Mori had pulled that wire— _mere instants before Azuma got the point_ —a sound had begun to echo around the completely dead-silent mass of rubble surrounding them. A harsh ' _tic_ ' was the first noise to sound out, causing Kageura's head to snap to the side.

And then, the world exploded in a flash of white and orange light.

-0-

To say that everyone in the rank wars lobby was stunned into silence, would be a lie.

Because they were absolutely wild with cheering, cries of outrage, confusion, outright awe as they recovered from the wall of light and sound they had been hit with—kudos to the explosion being presented on the large screens before them.

Hyuse though, back in Tamakoma-2's operator room, had recovered from the light show nearly-immediately. No, the thing that was still keeping his stunned to silence, was…

 ** _"Did she—Mikumo set up a ring of Meteora around the entire battlefield while the battle was happening!"_**

 ** _"Which means that, when Kuga had used Grasshopper to send Azuma into that fight, following soon after… He was trapping all of them there so she could set the trap."_**

 ** _"My my, what a crafty team~ Maybe I could get Kuga to join my team, hm?"_**

The _sheer audacity_ of it.

( _Yet somehow, it worked_.)

 ** _"Wait—The smoke is clearing!"_**

Hyuse's eyes snapped back to the screen, him being the only one in the room actually at the desk and keeping an eye on the proceedings. Yuma had left as soon as he had Bailed out, a quick ' _I don't care what the outcome is_ ' spewed out before he was speeding off to the other room where Shiori had brought Chika to.

Mori had Bailed out just a moment ago herself, though she was still lying down, completely motionless, on the Bail out-mattress. She hadn't moved a muscle nor spoken a word since landing there roughly, and Hyuse was content with leaving it there until his pseudo-sister spoke up.

Regardless, the screen was finally re-focusing, and Hyuse made sure to keep a steady eye on the screen.

 ** _"Aaaaannndd—! The only survivor of that last explosion— IS NINOMIYA MASATAKA FROM NINOMIYA SQUAD!"_**

Hyuse kept his eyes open to verify that, yes, Ninomiya was the only one left standing. Not that he had gotten off easy though.

His shields—he had gone full guard at the last moment, _impressive_ —had large cracks running through the middle of each of them, a few chips having been completely destroyed in the blast.

A whole leg—the left—was also missing, white Trion fizzling out a steady rate as he slowly pushed himself to his feet. As his shields dissolved out of existence, Hyuse could also catch sight of the white fog faintly lifting from his hand. Or, what used to be a hand, since it was now a stump.

The Border-hating side of Hyuse narrowed his eyes approvingly at the wounds, although that was dampened by the fact that this was a virtual simulated battle, and none of these overconfident and cocky agents would actually get what was coming to them.

( _The completely stunned expression of Ninomiya's was enough to be slightly satisfying though, it seemed he hadn't been expecting much from Tamakoma-2_.)

 ** _"Looks like Ninomiya was the only one to get through that final explosion, point-blank range…! Though he's definitely taken some damage from it."_**

 ** _"It's probably just because of how much Trion he has, to make the shields strong enough to withstand the blast. Other than that, it was blind luck."_**

 ** _"Pity, I would've liked to see the look on his face when he lost to a newbie."_**

 ** _"Kako-san, you sure are vindictive…"_**

A hiss of air passed through Mori's clenched teeth. And Hyuse listened with unexpected patience, because this girl—this _person_ had somehow just earned his respect during this match, even if neither of them had yet recognized it.

"… I… _I really wanted to win_."

And Hyuse nodded. Because loss was comparable to betrayal in that sense, where they both stung unbearably while also giving a rough wake-up call.

Only with loss, you could overcome it and use that experience to grow.

The pain of betrayal would never really go away, unlike that.

(... _Or it_ ** _could_** _, if you're willing to let go. But Hyuse wasn't yet willing to let go of the rope, especially if he didn't have a grip on anything else_. _Because doing so would mean falling,_ ** _falling_** _down into the waters below before_ ** _drowning_**.)

-0-

I composed myself soon after, and for some reason, with Hyuse following after me, made my way into the other room where Chika, Shiori and Yuma were apparently waiting.

Hyuse was being surprisingly quiet—and less snappish. I don't know what happened, but in any case, I'm thankful for it now.

I stepped into the next room, knocking against the doorway twice as my eyes quickly scanned the room.

"Alright, the match is over and _wow when did you guys get here_?"

Kitazoe rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, an apologetic expression taking over his face. "Sorry, are we in the way? We can leave—" He glanced back at the two youngest in the room, before sending another sheepish glance. "—Sorry, **_I_** _can leave_."

"No, it's fine," I accepted, eyes lingering on Ema and Chika a little longer than anyone else. "I don't know if you guys were listening or not, but the match is over. Ninomiya won."

Kitazoe drooped a little at the admission, while Ema only narrowed his eyes slightly. Both seemed disappointed with the outcome, and it took more effort than I was willing to admit in pushing back my emotions regarding the topic.

Yuma waved me over, sitting on the floor across from Chika—and Ema, who was sitting beside her. I could've sworn those two were all _jumpy_ and _nervous_ around each other, seems their crushes took a back seat while they were dealing with Chika's panic attack.

… Well, at least it didn't make it worse.

"When did you two get here?" I asked, sitting on the pillow behind Yuma, and tossing my arms over his shoulders as he leaned back onto my torso. "Kageura isn't here, _so_ …?"

"… We asked Hikari to buy us some time," Kitazoe admitted. "We have around 5 minutes before he comes _tearing_ down the halls."

" _Lovely_ ," I huffed, sighing heavily. There was a short pause, where I turned to address my team. Shiori _(leaning up against the wall_ ) and Yuma as well, even though I couldn't turn to him directly. "How's Chika doing?"

Shiori sighed, tilted her hand in a so-so motion. "She feels better than before at least. I think that her inability to breath, coupled with her Trion body's lack-of-need to breathe… It kind of messes with the brain's signals, so it was probably for the best that you had her Bail out before it got any worse."

"She might've gone into shock if it went on for much longer," Yuma guessed offhandedly. But there was an underlying tone of worry and slight fear—which evidently could be heard by even the members of Kageura unit.

I dug my chin into Yuma's head, snapping him out of his worry. "I don't think that's how ' _shock_ ' works, Yuma. Doesn't that happen when someone is losing a lot of blood?"

Shiori shrugged out of the corner of my eye, though her eyebrows still had a worried crease to them. "Trion and Triggers can do a lot of weird stuff, I wouldn't be surprised at half the stuff they could do."

"Yeah, like with _me_ ," Yuma whispered, low enough not to be heard. "My black Trigger's keeping me _alive_ , despite me being literal inches from death. I'd say that anything else is pretty justified, eh?"

I laughed weakly at that just as I saw Hyuse leave the side-room out of the corner of my eye. He wasn't making a move to exit out into the hallway though, so I let it slide.

But something about Yuma's words stood out to me. They stuck like glue in my mind, and I couldn't get them to leave. Not even when Kageura came tearing into our operator room, _demanding his teammates back_ —while the two stragglers reluctantly left.

I pretended not to see Ema's last shoulder touch with Chika before they left, or their small smiles. _Ah, young love_.

-0-

At some point, between dropping Chika and Shiori off at one of the doors to be picked up by Kizaki, and heading over to the cafeteria to have an admittedly cheap dinner, we found ourselves being picked up by a group of Border agents.

A group of people that were mostly enthusiastic to converse with Yuma, which I was primarily used to. So I stuck to the sides and zoned out a little, absentmindedly having my side effect pick up the offhand observation as I tuned out the world.

I barely even noticed someone turning towards me.

" _Still_ , four-eyes, how'd you dodge that fuckin' shot?"

I blinked, drawn out of my distracted observing as the brash and rough voice filtered in through my awareness.

Oh, that was Kageura.

"Huh?"

He rolled his eyes at my response, apparently expecting me being too distracted to listen. "I _asked_ how the fuck you dodged Azuma's Lighting shot. _Point-blank range_. Pretty much _impossible_."

I barely registered a few people eagerly leaning forward in the background. "Well, I didn't _dodge_ , I blocked it with a shield. Considering the speed that anyone can switch Triggers, it's obviously not **_impossible_** —"

He took a quick swipe at my head, a growl escaping under his breath. " _Just shut up and answer the fucking question_."

"Is ' _fuck_ ' the only swear word you know? Because _I'll_ have you know—"

" ** _SHUT THE FUCK UP!_** "

"Well, if I shut up, how can I answer the question?"

Kageura made a wordless, half-growled mess of incoherent words while twisting his hands as if he were imagining strangling me. _Very vividly_.

"It was _very_ impressive, Mikumo-chan!" Inukai chipped in, leaning forward to block Kageura from my view—and apparently unbothered of how Chika had shot his head off just a few hours ago. "I knew you had _good_ awareness from our matches, but that just took it to _the next_ —"

Kageura screamed something incoherent, before launching himself at Inukai with the honest-to-god intent to kill. The latter only laughed cheerily, batting away any attempts to strangle him with a smile.

" _I'll admit_ , I'm curious too," Arafune added, hand against his chin. "The Lightning **_is_** supposed to be the fastest sniper Trigger there is, and at that distance…?"

Murakami sheepishly rubbed the back of his head but didn't deny his curiosity. Although if I wasn't imagining it, there might have been a glimmer of… _knowing_ in his eyes.

… Well, if **_I_** can tell people have side effects, I guess it's reasonable to say that some of the more _aware_ agents can do the same.

' _Is there really any point in hiding it anymore…?_ '

I inwardly shrugged, facing the now slightly curious audience, as well as the subtly smirking Yuma. Our group, summarily comprised of Kageura, Inukai, Tsuji, Arafune and Murakami.

"Well, to tell the truth," I sheepishly grinned, waving a hand as nonchalantly as I could manage. "I kind of… _Have a side effect_."

I didn't get another word out before I was hit with a wall of noise— _mostly yells of shock_ —but if I wasn't fighting off tinnitus…

Then Yuma's laughter might have been mixed in too. Now that I'm thinking about it, that was _probably_ the case.

"—Since _when_?!" Arafune finally exclaims, being the first coherent question I could make out.

"Uh, a few months ago? Yeah, it was just after the two of us got recruited by Jin…" I turned to Yuma for clarification, to which he nodded. "Yeah, that. Jin noticed it first and ended up bringing it to our attention, and here I am."

"I _kind_ of had a feeling all along…" Murakami admitted quietly, a small smile rising to the surface as his fellow agents turned to him in shock. "Would it be alright if I asked you to share?"

"No, I can tell you guys about it." I shot a quick glance at Kageura, who had paused in his attempts to murder Inukai. " _To be honest_ , I was more surprised that Kageura-senpai _didn't_ notice it…"

" ** _HEY_**."

"No offence," I waved off, before returning to the topic. "Anyways, it's enhanced sight-to-brain connection. So I can process whatever I can see in basically _no time flat_ …"

I realized that I was getting a few confused looks, and sighed. "Let's just… Get something for an example. You know when you need to stare at something for a few seconds before it _actually_ starts to register in your head? It's like that, but I can do it—" I snapped. "— _Just like that_."

A few ' _ohhhhhs_ ' of understanding.

… The teenagers of Border, everybody.

"So you unconsciously noticed Azuma aiming with the Lightning, and raised a shield…" Murakami nodded with a small smile. "It wouldn't have worked if you tried to dodge though, right?"

" _Exactly_ ," I nodded along, somewhat glad to finally share my side effect. It was interesting to talk about with people that could understand. "It doesn't really help me at all if my reflexes aren't _quick_ enough to keep up with my mind… But the only thing you need to switch Triggers is the thought of doing so. So _technically_ , any Lightning or Eaglet snipe that's aiming from in front of me… Well, I'll see it. Unless I'm otherwise occupied, and can't block no matter what."

"Eh, are you _re~ally_ okay with sharing this?" Inukai slung his arms over my shoulders, having somehow escaped the spiky-haired attacker after his blood. "It's just going to make it easier to _beat_ you, Mikumo-chan."

"I'd like to make a formal request for you to _kiss my ass_." And like the mature adult I was, I stuck my tongue out at him whilst shaking him off my shoulders. "You'd beat me either way, and I've already told you all that my side effect _exists_. You'd figure out a way around it eventually."

"She's not wrong about that," Tsuji spoke up, and _wow_ , he's still hiding behind Arafune. I suppose I could count myself lucky he even tried speaking to me at all, considering how _shy_ he is around girls, but still.

"Still, it's one of the lower ranked side effects, isn't it?" Arafune asked. "And it seems the uses are quite limited… Can it do anything else?"

I lifted my cup of soda up, an absentminded ' _uhhhh_ ' falling out of my mouth before I could stop it. "… I can recognize bullets pretty much instantly? But anyone could do that with _enough_ time and experience under their belt…"

"Yeah, but you can do it _quicker_ ," Yuma cut in, now having recovered from his previous bout of laughter. "And in the middle of a fight, no one really has the _time_ to be looking too closely like that, you know."

"That's right," Murakami backed up. "Besides, **_a_** side effect is better than **_no_** side effect. Take the advantages when they present themselves."

I frowned contemplatively at that, sipping on my drink to think.

"Hey, I just thought of something!" Inukai piped up, raising an arm from where he'd finally sat down. "If she has enhanced sight-to-brain connection, wouldn't that be useful for programming Viper trajectories?"

There was dead silence at the table, before Arafune blinked and spoke up.

"Inukai… That _actually_ sounded half-way to intelligent."

"Hey!" The gunner barked indignantly. "I go to prep school with you, I'm not _dumb_! You of all people should know that!"

"Moving on…" Kageura growled, sitting exactly opposite from where the blonde gunner was. "It's actually a decent fucking point. _Would_ it help?"

"You don't know?"

"I'm not a fucking _shooter_ , you asshole. Get on with it."

Tsuji coughed, interrupting them. "… As far as I know, programming Viper trajectories on the spot is something _only_ … Izumi and N-Nasu-san can do, correct?"

Yuma whistled. " _Impressive_."

"Well, that's because it's _stupidly_ difficult…" Inukai sighed. "The question is, would her side effect help? I've seen Ninomiya try making Viper trajectories and _let me tell you,_ it wasn't **exactly** —"

" _Didn't Ninomiya-san tell us never to speak of that day ever again_?" Tsuji interrupted flatly, causing Arafune to quickly smother a snort, before gaining back his composure.

" _Uhhhh_ …" I hummed, rubbing my chin between my fingers. "… I've actually never _tried_ programming it on the spot…"

I paused, deadly serious as a thought just occurred to me. "Actually, I can't remember If I've _ever_ even used a Viper at all."

Kageura shot me a flat look. " _Are you fucking kidding me_."

" _I assure you_ , I'm being as serious as a **_funeral_** right now."

" _Callback_ ~!" Inukai sang while lifting up a hand, allowing me high-five it with matching grins.

Murakami and Tsuji sighed in unison, while Arafune gave the two of us a disturbed glance. " _You two are sick_."

Yuma gave an appreciative clap.

Bless my best friend, for enabling me and my sick humour.

-0-

 _ **A/N -**_

 _ **Alright, I've left this little note for the end of the chapter, because as far as I know? It's probably going to be a bit longer than usual.**_

 _ **To start off on a light note, a recent review was wondering how long the chapters were on average-to which I reply, I aim for approx. 10K words usually. It's been a bit on the lower side lately due slightly slower pacing and other reasons, but they usually reach at least 9K.**_

 _ **Secondly, and the last thing I guess I'll be talking about... I'll be putting Swapped In on Hiatus in a week. I've been thinking about it for a while, and I guess this is just a quick heads up-I have one more chapter pre-written, so I'll put that up next week-before I go on hiatus. There are a couple reasons, but I'll summarize it for now.**_

 _ **1\. I'll be catching up with canon soon, and if things keep going at this pacing, I'll need to pause for a while between chapters anyway. But at that point, I'll just be reacting to whatever the original comic throws out, and it'll be kind of boring. I also need to wait and learn a little more, at least up until the expedition arc, to learn some more about some of the stuff I wanted to write. With World Trigger off of it's hiatus, my 'fuck it, I can do whatever I want with canon' attitude has simmered down a bit.**_

 _ **2\. With some of the new chapters, as well as my own growth as a writer over the months, has made me realize quite a few mistakes I've made while writing this. I know the saying goes as 'You're your own worst critic', but I can't help it. I've noticed that I've underplayed a lot of the characters within the story strictly for the sake of pushing the story forward, which was something I'm a little disappointed about. Also, most of the character development was rather rushed, and feels generally sloppy.**_

 _ **Now, I'm not saying that I'll stop writing this out of shame because I can't take a few mistakes, it's actually the opposite. I'm relatively proud of what I've done here, and it was my first fic for a reason. I'll use it to improve my writing next time.**_

 _ **3\. I've left this for last because it was actually one of the big reasons, but also something I was hesitant to put in strictly because I don't want to seem accusatory. But the comments and reviews I've gotten on both this site-and AO3, where this is also posted-have been my driving force for when I feel less-motivated. And I've been getting less, or next to none lately, which has left me feeling just a bit worn out. Again, I'm just listing reasons, so I don't want to make this seem accusatory or ungrateful.**_

 _ **There were a lot of other stray thoughts on my mind while I was making this decision, but that's what it all boils down to. I definitely won't leave the fandom, I love it FAR too much for that, but after the next chapter, I'll be putting it on hold. Thank you so much for all of the love and support this fic has gotten, it'll probably leave an impact on me for whenever I'm writing in the future. I know it already has. Who knows, maybe my next fic will also be a WT one, and I'm without a doubt being all melodramatic with this authors note, but for now...**_

 _ **It's almost time to say goodbye to Swapped In. Only time will tell if I'll ever go back to it.**_


	22. Forever Stuck In Our Youth

"… Are you guys _really_ okay, Mori?"

I blinked, turning to Konami confusedly before I slapped on a quick smile. "Why wouldn't we be?"

She gave me a flat stare. "Mori, Chika shot someone. You and Yuma are hovering."

"I'm not hovering, _you're_ hovering," I deflected childishly, biting into my piece of toast before swallowing harshly. "Besides, I'm not with her right now, am I? We're not hovering."

"You three of you guys _insisted_ on sleeping over in the same room last night, it took you ten minutes just to work up the courage to let her out of your sight, and even then, you only did it because _Yuma_ is still with her." Konami sighed, digging the heel of her hand into her eye. "Geez, you guys are too co-dependent, yet somehow so stubborn on doing everything alone! Why do you teenagers have to be so _stupidly_ annoying!"

"Konami, you're a teenager yourself," Kizaki called out from the kitchen, absentmindedly cleaning a plate.

Konami, like the mature teenager she was, huffed and ignored her captain. "Besides, you guys are refusing to talk about it! And you're insisting on not telling **_us_** what the hell happened during the match— _not that blowing up Kageura, Azuma and_ ** _Ninomiya_** _wasn't awesome_ —but it was a **_mess_**!"

I sighed, spinning in my seat to look away from her. "We talked about it yesterday, so we don't need to again… Yet."

Konami only huffed in response, but reluctantly left it alone.

"… So, Mikumo," Kizaki begins, apparently content to carry the next topic of conversation. "Do you have any plans going forward?"

A slow and lazy ' _hmmm_ ' rang out, while I rocked back and forth in my seat. "… I have a few ideas, but first, there are two things I need to think about."

Konami raised an eyebrow, urging me to go on.

"Something's been stuck in my mind since yesterday, but that's less important until I figure out what it's about," I filled in still half-distracted as I finished my breakfast. "But the _more_ important thing is what I've been thinking about since before the match."

That got a few reactions of curiosity. A notable mention on Hyuse's part, who was sitting quietly beside Yotaro on the couch across from the dining room. The two of them turned slightly, though somehow, Yotaro was grinning excitedly.

… _Drat_ , that brat is surprisingly good. How did he know I wanted to ask already?

"Want to elaborate?" Konami asked, leaning over the chair in front of me. "Or are you gonna be like _Jin_ , who keeps quiet until he can throw it in our faces and watch our reactions?"

A quiet hum, and I found myself contemplating if I _should've just kept my mouth shut_. "… I don't think you're gonna like it, but I'm planning on recruiting a fourth member."

"I _already_ don't like the sound of that," Kizaki deadpanned. "Who's is it?"

"Someone free, someone Mori knows, good enough for Tamakoma standards…" Konami's eyes narrowed. "… **_Who_**?"

For once in my life, my self-preservation kicked into gear, and I found myself turned towards the side as I whistled innocently.

Yotaro seemed perfectly happy with shattering the suspense in the air with a smug grin. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Hah? Are you saying _you_ know who she's talking about?"

"Of course," He leaned back, coincidently bumping into Hyuse.

"It's _Hyuse_ , isn't it?"

Hyuse, who choked as soon as the words were out.

Konami gaped before reacted in the only way she really knew how. That is to say, _incredulity_ and _denial_.

" _Do you_ **_really_** _think that HQ would—?!_ "

I scooped up my bag from the chair and made a break for the door before anyone could recover from the shock. "Well, my Tamakoma-2-senses are tingling, I guess I'm off!"

True to my words, as soon as I opened the door leading out into the hall, Yuma and Chika were waiting for me.

Yuma blinked, still relatively close to Chika's side. "… _That was quick_."

"I have Tamakoma-2-senses," I waved off, smiling lightly. "Where are we going?"

"HQ," Chika answered, eyeing the door I had hurriedly shut behind me. "… Did you ask Hyuse to join the team?"

I groaned, running a hand over my face, following my two friends as they began to walk through the hall. "You two _knew_?"

"I could tell you were considering it." Yuma snickered. "It's obvious he's grown on you."

"Am I really _that_ obvious?"

" ** _Yes_** ," Was the quick and decisive answer I received from both my teammates in unison.

I could only sigh in resignation.

' _But… At least things are starting to go back to normal_.'

-0-

"… I couldn't help but notice," Kizaki cut in, sending a quick glance off towards the Neighbour in question. "You didn't comment on the offer, negatively or not."

Hyuse shot the adult a dark glare, still chugging the water Yotoaro had sympathetically gotten. "… I choked."

Konami crossed her arms, still slightly grumpy. "Still, I can't believe that idea… I know Mori's out of her mind, but _this_?"

"She and Jin got HQ to let Kuga join," Kizaki reminded calmly.

"Yeah, but that was _Yuma_!" Konami objected, still refuting the idea. "Yuma, who's my apprentice. Also, they'd have to be dumb to refuse the help of a black Trigger! _Hyuse_ —Hyuse helped Afto during the large-scale invasion!"

Hyuse narrowed his eyes at her but didn't say anything quite yet. Objecting that statement would just put him at odds with _both_ sides while he's still on the fence like this about his loyalties.

At this point, the list of people he's still loyal to is… limited, to say the least. His master, Yotaro, and…

'… _No. That will never happen, they said it themselves_.'

"Your brain-dead organization would never be able to set their ego aside long enough to let me anyways, even if I have information that could help them." Hyuse huffed. "The idea died in its crib, and if _lazy_ thought it actually had a chance… She's dumber than I thought she was."

Konami's desire to defend Mori's intelligence level momentarily override her vehemence to object to the idea, and she found herself yelling at the Neighbour once again.

-0-

"Hm?" Kinuta spun around. "What's Mikumo doing here? She wasn't here last time…"

"I'm just tagging along," I excused, waving a hand. "I might ask a few questions but other than that, don't mind me."

He paused for a moment, before reluctantly opening the door wider. "Hrm. Just don't interfere with our business too much."

"I won't, I won't…" My voice lowers nearing the end. " _Probably_."

Yuma snorts as he follows me through the doorway and over the threshold.

"Like, I, _said_ ~" We hear from further into the room, causing Yuma to look over curiously. "I already told you everything I know about the small fries, taking anymore time to do this is pointless for the both of us."

'… _Wait, is that a Rad?_ '

"It'll either be Galopoula or Rhodokrhoun, one or both with come to attack." The Rad waved a claw dismissively, eye twisting around towards us and away from Raizo. "Isn't that enough information? I'm getting tired… _Shoo_."

"Wow, he's gotten a lot more cocky, now that he's not locked up behind a pane of glass," Yuma commented, pointing towards the Rad while turning to Kinuta.

"… You really weren't kidding, huh?" I sighed, glancing at the horned Trion soldier. "I didn't really think something like this was really possible…"

"Heh?" The Rad's eye swivelled around to meet mine. "Oh, it's _you_! The… The little monkey! You were protecting the golden egg, weren't you?"

I raised a hand to my chest in mock-surprise. "I didn't think you would remember a meeden monkey like me! What an _honour_!"

"' _Meeden_ '?" Kinuta repeated, sending me a flat glance.

I only pointed at Yuma. "Two of my friends are Neighbours, I unintentionally get some history lessons sometimes."

He stares at me, contemplatively, for a few more moments, before sighing.

"Galopoula and Rhodokrhoun…" He begins instead, turning back towards the black Rad. "We don't have enough information on either of them. Since we don't know enough about either, we can't make any specific plans…" He pointed a searing glare in the Rad's direction. "Out with it already!"

The Rad turned away on the cushion with a huff, as I simultaneously leaned down to whisper in Yuma's ear.

"… Maybe I haven't been listening enough, but… _what's it's name? The Rad, that is._ "

I got a quick ' _Enedorad_ ' in response, before we turned our attention back to the conversation at hand.

"Raizo!" Kinuta finally called out, turning to the chubby man sitting quietly at the side. "Do something!"

"Okay…" The man sighed, walking towards Enedorad and leaning over. "Come on, I'll show you another movie."

"Oh? _Hm_ …" The Rad visibly perked up, before settling down into the cushion once again. "Unfortunately, even if I wanted to say anything… I don't know the details. Working on the outskirts is up to the small fry, ergo, not my business."

The Rad was unexpectedly emotive even as a Trion soldier, slowly slumping into the pillow. "Both of the countries are puny anyways, you don't really have any need to worry. If Meeden could somehow outlast our invasion… Well, there's no chance of them catching you with your pants down."

"Interesting analogy," Yuma commented slyly, shooting a quick thumbs up. "Also, he isn't lying, for what it's worth. Is someone coming to attack again?"

"In a few days… According to our predictions." Kinuta sighed, crossing his arms. "And if he's telling the truth."

"That soon?" Yuma questioned, me silently listening behind him. "We haven't really heard anything about that…"

"An emergency meeting has been called, right now." Kinuta gestured vaguely towards the door leading to the hall. "It's being discussed to figure out the next course of action."

"Ah… That's why Jin wasn't at the branch office this morning," I muttered distractedly. "He must have left pretty early."

Yuma hummed.

"Though, depending on the meeting, it's likely the defence against this next attack," Kinuta began gravely. "…Will be carried out as secretly as possible."

 _That_ brought us up short.

" _EX_ - _cuse_ me?"

"Now, it's just not the right time," He excused, waving me off. "The city is still recovering from the large-scale invasion. If people find out that something else is coming…"

"They'd freak out," Yuma smirked. "Like totally, freak out. _Pull a mutiny_."

Kinuta shot the Neighbour an irritated glance. "… We'd like the citizens to live in peace for now. If the media gets any excuses now, we'll _never_ hear the end of it, and the public will lose faith in Border. And all of our long term plans, recruiting, the away missions… They'll have to be put on hold."

"… That… _Would_ be bad," I summarized nicely. "But how does Enedorad know that anyone will attack?"

" _What did you just call me_?!" The Rad snapped, glaring at me with the single eye.

When I stared right back, completely unflinchingly, he sighed and turned away. "… I don't need a specific reason. Hairein is just a bastard, and I know that's what he'll do. He doesn't want you monkeys going after him and attacking Aftokrator."

'… _Hairein?_ '

"Isn't that the opposite though?" Yuma asked, quirking an eyebrow. "They pumped a _lot_ of Trion into the attack, wouldn't it be easier on their resources if we came to _them_?"

The Rad snorted, twisting around on the pillow. "Maybe under normal circumstances, but they'll be dealing with a lot of in-fighting once they get back… To choose a _God_ , anyway. They can't afford to deal with outsiders during delicate politics like that."

He paused, before lifting up a claw and jabbing at it the two of us. "Oh yeah, one piece of warning!"

I jerked back minutely at the movement, but he continued on without a care in the world.

"It'd be better off for everyone if you didn't tell _Hyuse_ about the attack."

My eyes widened.

"He might be behaving now… But I bet he's waiting for a chance to return home."

"… Hm…" Yuma lifted a hand, stroking his chin jokingly. I could tell something slightly insulting was circling through his thoughts though, and cut in.

"Enedorad, could you elaborate of the ' _god_ ' issue from before?"

"Stop calling me that, you goddamn _vermin_!" He snapped, jabbing the claw in my direction. "But fine! If you wanna know so badly, I'll spare some time out of my day to educate you brain-dead monkey!"

"… Such vulgar vocabulary," Kinuta sniffed, before waving over Raizo. "Bring him a whiteboard, it's how it was explained last time."

He gave me a quick glance, I assume for asking the strange question, before directing us over to the nearby table. "Take a seat over there, Raizo will be back soon."

Yuma nodded, pulling out a chair for himself, as I sat on the side adjacent to him. Soon enough, Raizo was back with a whiteboard, and Kinuta was bringing over Enedorad to sit on the table.

"Argh, this is such a _pain_ ," He grumbled, lifting a claw—wait, did they really just _tie_ a _marker_ to it?— "I hate going over the same thing I told baldy already."

Kinuta's fist twitched in irritation, and I laughed despite myself.

"So this is the short version, listen up **_real_** good. First, I'll talk about Aftokrator," He went on, unperturbed. "Aftokrator… is run by _four_ houses. There are many vassal houses under the dominion of each feudal lord, and many more below them. There are four big groups of smaller houses… And all of them claim their own territories."

"That sounds really risky, especially for a nation that goes around starting wars with everyone else," I commented cheerily. ' _Not to mention, it sounds mighty familiar. Tamakoma and HQ, ringing any bells?_ '

"Most countries are like that, when they only cooperate while going to war with other countries," He dismissed. "So, Hairein, _the dickwad_ , is one of the leaders of a big house. Fuckin' _try-hard_ … He's been going around gathering manpower and Triggers for their house so he could expand their territory." His opinion on his former-leader was… Pretty clear, to say the least. "For a while, all of those _haughty_ leaders were getting along and making nice, but now there's a problem."

"In a few years…" His eye narrowed, still looking serious despite his form. "The planet's god will _die_. Essentially, Aftokrator will shrivel up and wither away… Killing everyone and destroying the land. But… When something like this comes around, an opportunity arises."

"By saving the planet, they can become heroes, huh?" Yuma inferred, whistling nonchalantly. "Typical."

" _Exactly_." Enedorad snorted. "If one of the houses find the next god, they'll be acknowledged as the strongest and wealthiest house in the next generation. So, off the four houses go… Looking for a sacrifice to toss at the mother Trigger… And that's where we are." He huffed, glancing down at the rough diagram he had outlined on the board.

"Mother Trigger?" I repeated, glancing around quickly. "Whassat?"

" _Hah_? Weren't you—?!" The rad abruptly paused, before narrowing its single eye. "… You weren't here last time, _were you_."

"Nope."

"Figures." It sniffed. "Fine, I'll explain it again. The mother Trigger… is basically what powers the Neighbourhood. Each nation, each planet has it's own mother Trigger that preserves the land for hundreds of years at a time… Per god. It can control weather, land structure…"

It finished its sentence with a concise jab directed at my face. "It manipulates everything that makes a nation… What it is. It is the life of the planet, and without it?" A snort as the claw lowered once more. "Well, pretty self-explanatory, no?"

"… It sounds very important," I finally settled for.

"Aftokrator rules over the Neighbourhood, because of our careful choice of each god that gets sacrificed." Enedorad huffed. "It is of the _highest_ importance that the planet prospers, no matter what."

"Wait, I have a question," Yuma raised a hand jokingly. "What about Hyuse? You mentioned before that this whole mission was played off as an excuse to get rid of Hyuse, but what was the reason?" Yuma paused, before grinning half-mockingly. "You're only _kind_ _of_ smart—"

" ** _YOU—!_** "

"—But you _probably_ have noticed something was up… If there wasn't a _plausible_ reason, that is."

Enodorad squinted at my best friend for a few more minutes, before scoffing loudly. "Fine, you're right, I'm getting to it."

He circled a certain house, one of the smaller houses closer to the middle. "… Listen up. Hairein is a pessimist by nature… and figured that finding a Meeden monkey with enough Trion to be a god, would be rare. So… Hyuse was his _backup_ plan."

My eyebrows raised, and I made sure to listen extra carefully.

"If they couldn't find a candidate for a god, he would offer up his vassal with the highest Trion. But the doesn't usually work you see." Enedora cackled. "Sacrifice one of your own, and people will get testy. And losing someone with enough Trion to be a god is dangerously risky. But no matter what, that bastard just _had_ to find a god, no matter what." Another scoff. " _The greedy bastard_."

"Testy… So is a fight gonna start, now that Hairein couldn't find a god?" Yuma questioned. "Since you said he'd offer up someone to be the god, no matter what."

"Oh, of course." Enedorad snickered, eye folding in amusement. "That's why… Hairein _marooned_ the mongrel that was most likely to bite him in the ass. The plan goes as thus… To sacrifice the lord of the **_Ellin_** house, directly under Hairein…"

A pang of realization rang out through my mind.

"Hyuse's master."

' _Mikumo…_ ** _Ellin_** _Hyuse_.'

That… that was the middle name he chose, wasn't it?

"So… This person is going to be Aftokrator's next god?" Yuma questioned. "And you said something about ' _master_ '. Do you mean, employer…? Or something of a teacher?"

"Eh, it's probably closer to the second one," Enedorad grumbled. "Although foster parent wouldn't be too far off either. The Ellin are known to be softhearted… especially to any orphans they pick up off the streets. Hyuse was most likely treated like a _family member_ , rather than a _soldier_."

"Ah…" I didn't really know what to say to that. "That's… _rough_."

Lovely.

"Did he even know that his master was going to be sacrificed?" Yuma wondered out loud. "Hyuse doesn't seem like the type to dilly-dally if something like that were going on, even in the background…"

"At most, he probably only heard rumours and speculation. If anything Hairein must've made sure it wouldn't come up too much." Enedorad's eye narrowed in anger at the mention of his former leader. "Like I said last time the shrimp was around, he probably distracted him with the fact that they were about to get rid of _me_."

There was a short pause for us to mull over the information before the Rad tapped it's claw against the board again.

"… If Hyuse has any brain cells to rub together… He's wondering why he's been left behind. Of course, there's the possibility that he's already figured it all out, but on his end, there's no definitive proof yet. So he'll be doing _whatever it takes_ to go back to Aftokrator at this point, and hurry back to his master's side. So keep an eye on him, if he tries to make a break for it."

My eyes flickered. ' _But… Doesn't that contradict… Everything he's done so far?_ '

Yuma's eyes slid over to me, our eyes meeting for just long enough to get the thought across.

' _He sure didn't_ ** _seem_** _like he was in a hurry to go anywhere_.'

And that brings me back to my normal point, which was actually what made me think about bringing Hyuse into our team.

Does he actually want to go home?

'Cause, if so, sure doesn't seem like it.

"Watch the Neighbour closely, Tamakoma," Kinuta wanted, dragging me unwillingly out of my thoughts. "We'd like to avoid any conflict, for now, seeing as how another invasion is coming."

"Oh, don't worry about Hyuse, old man." Yuma waved a hand, shuffling back and standing up from his chair. I followed soon after him before the two of us made our way over to the door. "He won't be any trouble. Guaranteed."

Enedorad's single eye quirked slightly, and Kinuta shot the white-haired teen a quizzical glance. "Why do you say that?"

Somehow, without even meeting my eyes, I could tell exactly how Yuma wanted me to respond. As well as the fact that he wanted me to respond at all.

So I plastered on the coldest glare I could manage, slowly swivelling around on my heels to meet eyes with both figures in the room.

( _Yuma would later tell me just how terrified the two of them looked, nearly chortling enough to ensure that I couldn't understand his words._ )

" _If he ever gets it in his head that he can try and get away…_ ** _I will make sure he regrets ever being born_**."

And with a dramatic flourish and a cheery grin, Yuma shut the door behind us.

…

"Wow, Mori. You were pretty cool back there—!"

" _Holy god please don't make me do that again_."

" _Aaaaaaannddd_ there it goes. Well, it was fun while it lasted… Still, were you telling the truth?'

"… _You_ of all people, are asking me that?"

"Right, I was just asking. Where to next?"

"I'm just planning to wander around… We didn't get to show off the shared vision last match, so we'll work on that more later."

"Okay, well, Kageura asked if we could fight again… So I'll be heading over to the lobby to meet up with him."

"I'd say don't get lost… But that's impossible. Have fun, I guess."

-0-

( _Participants are sent to random positions on the virtual stage… And without Radar, must hide for ninety minutes while finding other snipers_.)

Chika twitched, feeling a small tap against the side of her shoulder.

' _My right…!_ '

She spun on her feet, immediately aiming with the Eaglet before firing.

A small moment of hesitation. Not a moment more.

Being sure to pick the window most hidden from sight—on the alley side of the building—before lifting her legs over the windowsill and leaping.

But before she could touch the ground, another light tap was felt on the side of her head.

' _Six hundred meters…?! That must have been_ …'

-0-

"Hey, aren't you guys leaving yourselves too open?"

Said teen rubbed the back of his head with a grin, towering over the few in front of him.

'… _I figured it would be Touma_.' Chika smiled back, sheepishly fidgeting with the edge of her gloves.

"How are we supposed to notice anything from _500_ meters away?!" Natsume asked indignantly, setting a hand against her hip.

"Izuho, you're full of holes!" Touma teased, patting her on the head. "So popular."

" _When will these disappear?_ "

Ema slowly walked over, eyes flickering between the three teens. Narasaka also stepped forward, not too far behind him.

"Still, Chikako… You're amazing! _21st_!" Natsume cheered, slinging an arm over Chika's shoulder. "And you were so close to getting 100 points, but I'm sure you'll do it next time!"

"I'm actually surprised she didn't do _better_ ," Narasaka pointed out, somewhat flatly.

"Eh?!"

"Yeah, I was thinking along the same lines," Touma joined in, bending over slightly to look Chika in the eyes. "You seemed to be hesitating more than usual, somethin' wrong?"

Chika glanced around for a moment, somewhat startled at the sudden flow of conversation. "… I just wasn't feeling too well. I'm sorry…"

Both top snipers recognized the evasion for what it was, with Narasaka sighing in resignation.

"Well, **_I_** still think Chikako did good," Natsume crowed, interrupting the silence. "She got higher scores than _you_ did, Touma-senpai."

"Ouch," He winced jokingly.

"Amatori does better in combat simulations than in target practice," Ema immediately added. "Though I agree that she should have gotten a higher score, she still performed admirably."

"… Thanks, guys." Chika bashfully scratched the back of her neck. "I'll try to do better for next time."

"You don't need to do it for _these two_ , Chikako!"

"Eh? I wasn't trying to criticize her or anything, I was just worried!"

"Then maybe you should word it better next time, Touma."

"You were _agreeing_ with me, you mushroom-haired killjoy!"

-0-

"Still… Chika can do so well during combat simulations…" Touma sighed. "Such a shame she doesn't get points all that often."

" _Urk_." Natsume huffed, setting down her cup from where they had all piled onto the pair of benches in the hallway. "Back to THIS topic?"

"I'm just saying!" He defended, although it was slightly ruined by the laugh that accompanied it. "Chika's only scored one point in the four rank wars matches that Tamakoma has participated in… What a waste."

Natsume seemed to be holding herself back from arguing further, and Chika decided that she should at least help her friend. ( _Her friend that was helping_ **her** _, but details, details_.)

"It's fine," She cut in, keeping a light smile on her face as naturally as she could. "I… I can't shoot people anyway. So there's not much point in dwelling on it."

Touma abruptly choked on his drink, while Narasaka's eyes only widened. Natsume also gaped, somewhat shocked at how easily Chika had revealed her secret.

Ema was quiet. Thoughts of the previous day ran through his mind, and he found himself unconsciously shuffling an inch closer to the short sniper.

"— _Seriously_?!" Touma finally belted out, hastily recovering from his coughing fit. "I was so sure of it before, _but then yesterday, you_ —"

He gestured wordlessly in the air, still sputtering uncharacteristically.

"… I didn't expect this," Narasaka finally settled for. "That's why… The match yesterday was so strange."

Touma finally ceased his vague gestures, pointing a curious glance towards the sniper in question.

Chika swallowed nervously, her smile dimming slightly. "Ah… I just…"

A pause. Natsume looked like she wanted to kick the pompadoured teen to her left, while Ema subtly sent a few death glares in their direction from over Chika's shoulder.

"… I saw them going after Mori... _And I_ …" Chika stopped again. But this time, she didn't try continuing.

"… Well, _damn_." Touma coughed, leaning back against the wall. "Do you need anything, kid? We'd be happy to help…"

"No, it's fine." Chika sighed, sipping her water carefully. "I already… Talked to them. Mori and Yuma. About it, and… They don't want me to keep trying until I think I can manage it safely."

"That's probably the smarter idea," Narasaka encouraged—in that subtle way that he did because apparently showing emotion is _unheard_ of for teenagers these days.

"But still," Chika rested a hand on her lap, clenching it into a fist. "It's frustrating… Not being able to do anything. I don't want—I can't just be ' _the cannon_ ' forever, because at this rate…" She shook her head. "… I won't be helpful to the team."

 ** _"Yuzuru… I really am useless after all… I'm sorry…"_**

"Amatori."

Everyone's heads snapped to the side, slightly shocked at the sudden conviction leaking into Ema's tone.

His expression was determined, and his hand was curled into a fist at his side before he slowly lifted himself off of the bench and stood up.

"I—I might be able to help you. Could you come with me for a bit…?"

-0-

" _Wow_ … Your room is pretty organized!"

Natsume glanced around the rooms, eyes immediately locking onto the clean operator's desk nudged against the wall.

Chika stepped over the threshold with Narasaka and Touma following right after her for some reason despite not being invited. But quickly enough, her eyes caught something different than what Natsume had initially noticed.

"… _Hrmn_ …"

Natsume blinked before her eyes locked onto the moving mass of blankets and pillows in the side room.

"Ema… _Izzat you_ …?" Nire slurred, shuffling slightly as she rubbed her eyes. As soon as her hand was removed from her face though, her eyes shot open at the visitors. " ** _AGH_**! _Girls_! And, Touma and Narasaka—!"

She cut herself off with a hiss, shoddily transitioning into a hasty ' _shush_ '. " _Be quiet—Do you know how long it took to—?_ "

"You're the loudest one here, Hikari," Yuzuru deadpanned, cutting her off. "I don't know what you're up to now, but it better not be illegal this time."

Narasaka raised an eyebrow at that.

" _You_ —Hush Ema, I didn't do anything!" She pulled herself out from underneath the kotatsu, slowly petting down her bedhead as she went. "Also, you should warn me before you bring guests! Should I call Zoe and Kage back over?"

" ** _Don't_**."

"What a warm welcome," Touma laughed, waving at the sleepy operator. "Nice to see you again, Hikari."

"Yeah, yeah, Touma. We go to the same school." She turned to Chika and Natsume with a carefree grin. "I'd offer for you to sit at the kotatsu and eat tangerines with me, but it's… _otherwise occupied_."

Another raised eyebrow from Narasaka.

" _Hikari_ ," Ema hissed across the room. " _We_ just _need to use the training room_."

Hikari let out a silent whine, apparently still committed to being quiet for whatever reason, before returning to the kotatsu gingerly. The cat from on top of Natsume's head leapt off agile, before curling up at her side by the pillows.

"… It sounded like you had something to help Chikako before," Natsume finally began, returning everyone's attention back to the unusually determined Ema. "Can you fix her weakness?"

"No." he shot back bluntly. "Besides, after yesterday, we shouldn't even be attempting it. That would be stressful and possibly damaging to her mental health."

A few scattered winces all around. Chika could only sheepishly fidget with the edge of her team uniform shirt.

"But…" Ema began again, waving over Chika. "There's a certain Trigger that I think could really help in this case."

Chika stepped forward nervously, walking into the training area with everyone following behind quietly.

"You can normally score hits during training… But in rank wars, it's somehow different." Ema glanced around, but his eyes only met Chika's out of everyone in the room. "But regardless, it's all training. It's still a _simulation_ , so what causes that hesitation? It's only a guess from my observations, but…"

His eyes sharpened. "Whether the target is blown up or not… Right?"

"Blown up?" Natsume repeated sceptically.

"That's not exactly uncommon," Touma chipped in. "Lots of people can't get over the fact that the people they are fighting are… _Well_ , people. Though Border does their best to screen people like that before they can even become C-rank and cut them off during the sign-up process."

"Those people say…" Ema continued seamlessly. "They just can't get past the idea of, ' _what if they were real flesh-and-blood_ '?"

Chika winced self-consciously.

"Border Triggers can't hurt civilians or people in their flesh and blood bodies. It's a safety precaution." Ema pulled up a window to change Trigger setting, glancing down at it as he spoke. "If Amatori can shoot normally during training, it's because she knows she won't hurt anyone. _So_ —"

Ema paused, squinting at the screen. For a few more seconds of silence, there was an awkwardness that began building up as he scanned the window in utter confusion.

"… _Hikari_?" He finally spoke up, cheeks turning a light pink in embarrassment. "How do you… change the Trigger settings?"

Touma looked as if he was holding in a year's worth of hilarity with his hands clamped over his mouth, and shoulders shaking in silent laughter. Natsume did too, but Ema was more interested in punched the older of the two.

' _All the seriousness of the situation… gone in the blink of an eye_.'

Hikari laughed over the communicator before a few tell-tale keyboard clicks sounded out. "You can't do _anything_ without me, can you!"

" _Yeah, yeah_ …" Ema grumbled, watching the window as the settings changed. "Amatori, would you form a Lightning, please?"

Chika did as told, and in within a few moments, a sniper rifle was being kept loosely in place by her glued hands. As she glanced down at the Lightning, it slowly began to discolour and turn black.

Narasaka's eyes widened in recognition. "… _That_ …"

"Amatori, give it a try." Ema's eyes flickered to the training dummies at the end of the hall. "Pump as much Trion into the shot as you can… And we'll see how it goes."

Chika nodded determinedly, setting the rifle up against the shooting booth to aim. "Okay!"

A shot, and suddenly, far to quick for their eyes to even comprehend—

 _BLAM!_

A wide, heavy black weight formed around and through the training dummy.

Chika's eyes widened, similarly to how Narasaka's had done just a few moments ago. ' _I remember… This Trigger…!_ '

"The lead bullet. It's a Trigger that immobilizes the opponent with weights." Ema clarified clearly, watching with something similar to pride as everyone's expressions' melted into awe. "This won't hurt anyone, even if they're flesh and blood… So Amatori _should_ be able to shoot with it."

 ** _"Yuzuru… I really am useless after all… I'm sorry…"_**

(… _Hatohara-san… You were anything_ ** _but_** _useless. I just wish you could have seen that before you gave up_.)

-0-

An explosion, as I ducked behind a wall.

" _You can't hide forever_ —!" A voice yells, before the steady beating of bullets against concrete is all I can hear.

 ** _Freeze frame._**

Well, you're probably wondering how a got into this fine mess, right?

Well, it started around an hour or two ago… I guess.

I was just minding my own business before _they_ popped up.

" _Well, look who we have here!_ "

A heavy weight abruptly latched itself onto my back, making me do a literal spit-take as the weight energetically swung back and forth.

"Moriyan, you didn't tell us you'd be here today!"

I coughed, hastily avoiding choking as I set down my cup and swung my arms back to catch the swinging teen clinging to my back. "Nice to see you too, Shun."

He laughed loudly, and a few seconds later, I found him being forcefully removed.

"Jeez, don't just run ahead like that, Midorikawa…" Yoneya sighed, before adopting his familiar grin as he waved. "Hey, four-eyes."

Another cough, as I waved back. "Nice to see you guys too, although… The greeting could use some work."

Izumi snorted, releasing Midorikawa from the half-chokehold he'd had on the short teen for tackling me. Sweet karma.

"Yeah… Sorry 'bout that." Yoneya laughed. "Though I guess Midorikawa was right. Didn't know you'd be around today!"

"I practically _live_ here," I muttered jokingly, turning around to face them properly. "I would probably _sleep_ here half the time, if I weren't worried about Kido killing me in my sleep."

Izumi winced. "Poor taste as always, Mori-chan."

"Wait, why would _Kido_ _want to_ —?"

"Nothing, _nothing_ …" Yoneya waved off the youngest of us with a sigh. "But on a side note, now that we're all together, you guys wanna have a few rank wars match?"

"What, are you _that_ excited to get your ass kicked?" Izumi asked challengingly, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Maybe we should put up a bet… Like, losers buy us all snacks or something."

I gulped, a feeling of dread creeping up my back. "I have bad experiences with betting against people."

"It's just snacks, you could use pocket money," Izumi waved off. "2-v-2?"

"Shooters versus attackers again? Or should we split it up differently?"

Midorikawa sighed, stepping away from the two competitive teens and closer to me. "… They're already too far gone."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "You're not enthusiastic for a match?"

"I mean, it'll probably be fun, but I'm kind of tired…" He sighed. "I wanted to hang out with Yuma, but he said he was busy…"

"Kageura asked him for a few matches," I elaborated. "Maybe you two can hang out next time."

"Well, it's decided!" Izumi and Yoneya both began dragging us along towards the lobbies, Midorikawa hooked under Izumi's arm, and me stuck with Yoneya. "I hope you're ready to lose, _bullet-brains_!"

"You first, _spear-idiot_."

I sighed, reluctantly letting myself be dragged through the hallways, and somehow managing to catch the curiosity of a few nearby agents.

I knew it was going to be a long few matches… And for the most part, I was right. Another heavy sigh on my part, my expression perfectly mirroring the exasperation I had before.

… Well, if I was gonna get dragged into this in the first place, I might as well try getting _something_ out of it.

I stuck out my tongue, before ducking forward and away from the wall I had previously been leaning against. Equipping my Bagworm as I went, I ran around a few corners to throw Izumi off of my trail, before checking my Radar.

Everyone, except for me, was visible on the Radar. Well, now I feel like the odd one out.

 ** _"… Yoneya-senpai, what's our plan?"  
_**  
A pause over the communicator. ** _"Plan?"_**

I groaned, shooting a spider up towards a roof, before using the wire to scale the wall. **_"We're doomed."_**

 ** _"Wait—Midorikawa is coming after me, and Izumi's going after you, so we should probably meet up. Then I can watch your back, and you can watch mine."_**

 ** _"And Izumi can watch Midorikawa's, and vice-versa."_**

I lifted my legs over the edge of the room, taking off the Bagworm as I scanned the area around the building.

 ** _"… Where are you right now?"_**

I opened my mouth to respond but ended up cutting myself off as I hastily threw up a shield. A steady round of bullets crashed into the surface, not quite cracking it, but managing a slight strain.

And there Izumi was, more Trion cubes forming underneath his hands and a cocky smirk on his face.

"You might wanna take cover, Mori-chan!"

 ** _"You'll know where I am in a minute,"_** I muttered to Yoneya over the radio, forming my own bullets but keeping a shield up at the same time. "This is about to get a little… E _xplosive_."

-0-

"Hm?"

Yuma jerked, before his head began turning to glance around his surroundings.

'… _Ah. I'm lost_.'

"All the hallways look the _same_ here…" He sighed, rubbing his chin with his fingers. "… Which way is the elevator? Kageura's gonna get impatient if I'm late… And Mori's gonna laugh at me if I admit I got lost again…"

"What's up? Lost?" An unfamiliar voice called out, causing Yuma's head to turn. "Where do you want to go?"

The male was relatively tall, with short, light brown hair and an unmistakably friendly expression. After a few moments of silent assessment, Yuma dubbed the stranger as trustworthy before nodding his head.

"The solo rank wars lobbies."

"Ah, that's right down this way," He smiled, pointing in the opposite direction Yuma had been walking in. "Just a few turns, and…"

After just a few minutes of walking, they found themselves at the entrance of the lobbies.

"Here we are," he directed, stepping right up to the threshold.

" _Ooh_ ," Yuma marvelled before turning to the stranger. "I don't know how anyone manages to remember that."

"The hallways all look similar," the brunette agreed humbly. "I used to get lost a lot too, but you'll find your way eventually."

Regardless, Yuma gave a slight nod of gratefulness. "Thank you, whoever you are."

"Wait, _seriously_?"

Yuma tilted his head curiously at the slight exclamation.

"Don't you know…? I'm your next opponent." Kakizaki sighed slightly, quirking an eyebrow at the white-haired teen.

"Oh, _wow_." Yuma's expression turned just a bit apologetic. "I'm sorry about that."

Kakizaki sighed, his own expression just a bit resigned. "No, it's fine, I should've—"

"Oh, Kakizaki!"

Both teens halted in their conversation, twisting around to glance at the new, female arrival.

"I didn't know you were friends with Kuga," Kako commented, sauntering forward and joining the small group.

"Kako," Kakizaki greeted with a small smile. "Did you just come off duty?"

" _Someone new again_ …"

"Nice to meet you, Kuga. I'm Kako Nozomi." Kako outstretched an arm to shake hands. "I was an analyst at your match yesterday… I'm lucky to see you here. Now I don't need to go all the way to Tamakoma."

Yuma shook her hand, eyes rising to meet hers in curiosity. "Hm?"

"Sorry to be so blunt, but do you…" She smiled invitingly. "… _Want to join my squad?_ "

Kakizaki gaped.

" _I decline_ ," Yuma commented with the grace of, well… _Yuma_.

Kakizaki's jaw dropped.

" _That's what I thought you'd say_ ," Kako added on seamlessly, not even missing a beat.

Kakizaki's head spun, eyes flickering between the two sporadically.

"Why _me_ in particular though?" Yuma asked, a sparkle in his eye. "You've only watched me fight a few times, and there are tons of people better than me in Border."

Yuma admits in his mind, that he's downgrading himself a little bit. He still stands by the fact that no one— _except for Jin, probably_ —could beat him when he and Replica were **_serious_**. But… Replica isn't here right now, and he's not exactly supposed to… _Parade_ his black Trigger around.

"Well, you see…" Kako began, pointing a finger aimlessly in the air. "Our squad is made up of only people, with the initial _K_."

A brief moment of confusion. " _Inisharu… Kay_?"

"Their names begin with the letter K," Kakizaki filled in. "Are you a foreigner or something like that…?"

" _Something like that_."

"So, whenever I see a talented someone whose name starts with K… I can't help but reach out."

"Then…" Yuma jabbed a finger towards the brunette beside them. "Did you try recruiting Kakizaki too…?"

" _Kakizaki_ …?" Kako rested a hand against her cheek. "Well, he's not really our type."

" _Er_ —Kako…" The agent in question drooped, scratching the back of his head. "You don't have to try being considerate…"

"I've heard around, that your squad is aiming for the away mission. And, well, we're going to try out this season too," She began, ignoring Kakizaki again. "Don't you think it'd be quicker to just join us?"

" _We're also working towards that, so I'm good_."

"We have the A-rank perk of asking the lab to customize your Trigger," She tried again. "You'll be able to fight more freely than before."

"Oh really? Well…" Yuma grinned. " _We'll make A-rank on our own, so I'm good_."

"It looks like…" Kako reached out with both hands, opening and clenching her fists "… I'll have to take you away by _force_."

" _Oh?_ " Yuma mimicked the action with a smug grin. "This will be fun."

"Stop it, people are looking!" Kakizaki muttered nervously, watching a few stray C-rankers begin to form a crowd. "You guys—"

" _OI, KUGA! YOU_ ** _PUNK_** _!_ "

Yuma blinked ta the familiar voice snarling out his name. " _Uh-oh_."

True to his worries, a spiky black-haired teen pushed his way through the crowd, scowl showing for the world to see as he tugged down his medical mask. "How long will you keep me waiting?!" Kageura growled, tilting his head. " _I'll tear you apart!_ "

"…Kage," Kakizaki greeted.

"Oh, Kageura." Kako smiled, waving pleasantly at the new arrival.

"Zaki, phantom hag," Kageura grumbled in return. "Alright, look—!"

" _A third K_ …" Yuma mumbled, unknowingly cutting him off.

"Huh?"

Kako turned back to Yuma, eager to continue the conversation. "So, you were meeting up with Kageura?"

"Yeah, but I got lost. Sorry 'bout that, Kageura."

"Then you should've let me know that you'd be late! _Let's get going already_!"

"Hey, I'm not done with him yet."

"Hold on, he's a _kid_. Stop pulling!"

" _Ah, so many people_. But I do have prior arrangements with _Kageura_ , so…"

"Then I'll fight him for you! Kageura, let's go to the solo rank booths."

"Hah?! I'm not interested in fighting _you_ , phantom hag! _Fuck off!_ "

" _Guys_ , _can't we just settle this like_ ** _mature adults_ —**"

-0-

 _BLORP._

Chika looked visibly surprised at the sheer volume of the Ibis lead bullet, but also at how slow it was moving. Though Touma wasn't too far behind in commenting.

"Wow, that's… _Really slow_." He laughed. "Also big enough to see it coming… Guess it's a dud."

"Yeah, this won't really work in combat," Natsume commented, still standing on the other side of the room from where she'd volunteered to be shot at. "What do you think it'll—"

At the exact same time she spoke up, she lifted a hand to poke at the bullet experimentally. It didn't work well in her favour, to say the least.

" ** _WHOA!_** " She yelled in surprise at the lead bullets, not only large in size, but in quantity as they expanded from her torso and suspended her from the ground.

Chika gaped, lowering the sniper rifle to step closer and inspect the weights. " _Wow_!"

Narasaka's eyes had widened, but that was his only reaction as he followed the group of snipers to Natsume.

"So, Natsume?" Ema asked curiously. "How is it? Heavy?"

"Ah, well…" She sweatdropped. "I—uh, I'm stuck."

"An understatement," Touma chortled, before attempting to help her out.

…

"After all that…" Ema glanced down at the Trigger-settings window again, though this time the group was huddled around him rather than single file in front of him. "Seems like the Lightning was the most practical."

"You were right all along…" Natsume gave him a thumbs up. "Nice going, Ema!"

"It wasn't _me_ ," He denied blandly. "I didn't come up with the idea, it was my mentor. Though she didn't have enough Trion, so she couldn't follow through."

"Ah, _Hatohara_ , huh…?" Touma whistled. "Shame she left, huh?"

"She was one of the best in terms of sheer skill," Narasaka agreed. "I'd say that this idea goes to show how intelligent and innovative she could be with the Trigger combo's."

"Wow… She sounds amazing!" Natsume cheered. "And she was just like Chikako? She couldn't shoot people?"

Touma shrugged. "Well, I'd say they're _kind of different_ … But yeah, she couldn't shoot at people either."

"But the Asteroid was pretty useful too, with the Lead bullet." Narasaka glanced at the training dummy across the room with weights sticking out of every surface. "But if the enemy is close enough for her to use that, then they're close enough to try shooting at her regardless."

"Though an Attacker wouldn't be able to shoot, if she can put enough distance between them," Ema added.

"Still, this is—"

"Chikako, what's with that silly grin?" Natsume suddenly interrupted, leaning over to see her friend's expression.

" _Huh_?" Chika jolted before sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, I was just thinking… This is really fun. Working things out together like this is… really fun."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Natsume grinned, slinging an arm over her shoulder. "Don't four-eyes and the little guy help you out too?"

"Yeah, that's true… But," Chika smiled, somewhat proudly. "… They've got their own friends now, so we can hang out other times. When we're around here… It's best if they get to talk with others."

"… Hm." Natsume grinned. "Well, we're around a lot, so you can come to find us whenever!"

"… I have time to spare." Ema muttered, turning away to hide the slight blush to his cheeks.

"Ooh, Yuzuru! Oh, la _la_!"

" _Wha_ —What are you grinning about?!"

"Nothing, nothing~"

-0-

"I can't tell what they're saying…" Nire grinned at her computer, watching Ema futilely pretend his crush doesn't exist. "But it's good to be young, Ema…!"

" _What are you going on about now_?"

Nire blinked, before spinning around in her chair. "Miwa, you're awake!"

"No, I'm sleeptalking," He retorted sarcastically as he levelled a heavy glare in her direction. "What does it _look_ like?"

"Ah, temper, temper…" Nire sighed, before taking a chance to properly look at the teen, still bundled up in the blankets from the kotatsu. "How was your nap? God knows you never get enough sleep in the first place…"

Miwa visibly hesitated before answering that one. "… _Fine_."

"Oh, that's good! I was worried we woke you up when they came in earlier…"

Miwa's eyes narrowed. " _You did_."

"Sorry about that, captain."

Both teens spun their heads around, meeting eyes with Narasaka and Touma, who were stepping out leisurely from the training room.

"Ah, you guys aren't sticking around?" Nire asked, tilting her head. "Since it looks like Amatori and Natsume are gonna practice for a bit longer, I thought…"

"Well, they're all the same age," Touma shrugged casually. "We should let them fool around and be kids. They should hang out, just the three of them, for a bit."

"I figured you were here since I didn't see you in our operator room," Narasaka mumbled, turning to Miwa. "How'd she drag you here _this_ time?"

Miwa glared, but Nire ended up answering for him with a laugh.

"Izumi, Yoneya and Midorikawa were wandering around, and Miwa ran into the first operator room he saw so he could hide," She laughed, with Touma joining in not a second later. "And that happened to be here and I made him take a nap, 'cause he looked like a mess."

Narasaka sent his captain a vaguely pitying glance, as the sound of laughter echoed around them.

-0-

I ended up pulling off… what, 4 wins?

Yeah, it ended up being 4 - 6 to Izumi and Midorikawa, which, the only reason that we got so many points is all thanks of Yoneya. Thank the gods for him, but I did get us ONE win, thanks to surprising Izumi with the Viper, and then the two of us ganging up on Midorikawa.

Turns out, me being able to program Viper bullets on the spot _really_ surprised Izumi. To the point where he had completely frozen up in shock as I blasted a hole right through his head.

Yoneya only cackled and gave me a high-five, which I took as a good sign. Well, I did get praised for it by all three of them afterwards, so I guess I did _something_ right.

Nailed it.

Which brings my total number of wins pulled off against them to… 17. Slow going, but I'm relatively satisfied with it.

After Yoneya and I treating the winners to some snacks from the vending machine, I split up and left to pick up Yuma from his pseudo-tournament with Kako, Kageura, and Kakizaki who had been dragged along at some point in time. Then, going off to steal Chika away from the Kageura operator room, where she'd been hanging out with Ema and Natsume. Gave Miwa a near heart attack when I all but kicked the door down, but Nire didn't mind so I guess it's all _o-k._

Then, we headed back to the branch office where I proceeded to sit down at the dinner table with a glass of water, my notebook, a pencil and eraser, and stay there until… Well, well into the night. Everyone had gone back to sleep by the time I had zoned back in, which was… I probably shouldn't do that too often, in the foreseeable future.

I expected to be the only one awake at this hour. So when I was brought out of my thoughts by someone dragging out the chair across from me with a chair-against-floor screech, I nearly jumped right out of my skin to see—

I blinked. "… Hyuse?"

His eyes flickered to me, but he sat down in the chair without another word.

My eye twitched minutely. "… Hey, you can't just fucking scare the shit out of me, then _ignore_ —"

"Why."

My words died in my throat before I coughed and met eyes with him again. "… I'm sorry, _what_?"

He rolled his eyes in exasperation at my antics, before continuing. "… I've been wondering _why_. Why you would even attempt inviting me onto your team. Why you've been putting up with me, why you've been dragging me around this past week or so. It's a question for the ages, honestly."

"Did you sit down here and interrupt my thinking time just so you could _ponder life_?" I muttered questioningly, only to be ignored again.

"I've been wondering…" He paused. "Why you haven't bothered even asking me to do so, before Yotaro… brought it up. _Joining your team_ , I meant."

 _That_ brought me up short.

Hyuse actually hesitated— _hesitated_ —before going on. "It's not like you've proven yourself to be a particularly hesitant person when it comes to things like that. Not since I've known you, anyway."

I set down my pencil, raising my head from the downwards position it had previously been in.

"… It's not like I have much else to do around here, anyway." He scoffed, staring down at his hand as he finally regained some of his previous attitude. "It would serve to… _Kill time_ , when I'm still here. Because I _will_ —"

"Hyuse, do you even **_want_** to go home?"

His head snapped towards me, and it took me a second to even realize I had been the one to speak those words. It took me another second, to gather enough composure to go on.

"I've… Been wondering too." My throat felt dry, almost discouraging me from continuing. "Why you haven't shown the slightest interest in leaving, despite being left behind by Hairein. Why you… why _you've_ been putting up with _us_. So I've just…" I shrugged. "I don't know what you want. So I guess… That's why I was considering it in the first place. Because **_I_** didn't know what **_I_** wanted, and I felt like I owed it to you to help."

"I don't need help," He finally hissed, cutting me off.

"Well, **_I_** did." I shot back. "And maybe you don't _need_ it, but I'm sure it would be nice regardless. I got my answer from some unintentional help from my friends, and I'm still trying to solidify that goal. The only thing is, I'm not sure if you can get that help from just— _Just standing around_ , doing nothing like this." I leaned forward, my eyes narrowing slightly. "Doing nothing but standing around, _waiting_ for an answer to fall from the skies because I did that once, and I will _never_ repeat that mistake."

Unexpectedly, he didn't glare at me for that one. At the very least, I had expected a scowl, but he only kept his eyes glued to the table with a blank expression.

"… I just thought I'd offer you a position on the team," I commented blandly. "You seem like a nice enough person— _setting aside the fact that you tried kidnapping Chika_ —and that's the only reason I'm actually considering this. At this point, you already get that I'm not exactly a **_nice_** person, and I'm not doing this on a whim."

I thought that was the end of the topic. He'd get up, ponder life a little more, before going to bed. Like he was supposed to. And I'd stay here, slaving away over my notebook while theories danced around in my head _like a—!_

"… You still haven't asked."

 _Ooooor_ not.

"Come again?" I muttered, picking up my pencil again.

"You…" His lips turned downwards. "You haven't actually asked me if I wanted to join the team. Directly."

That— ** _that_** , was something I could bring myself to smile at.

"Well, of course." I flipped another paper in my book, prepared to start a new page. "I won't ask you until I'm _absolutely_ sure you'll say **_yes_**."

He snorted doubtfully, and I was somewhat amazed that I could tell it was fake. "I've also noticed that you're particularly close to everyone on your team. Is extending an offer to someone like _me_ … Really a smart move?"

"Well then, you'll just need to become one of those people." I grinned. "Right, _otouto_?"

"… Yeah _right_."

The scrape of the chair legs, just before I found myself alone in the dining room once again.

… It's quiet again.

A small smile curled at my lips, as I flipped back and glance down at the writing in my notebook.

 ** _"My black Trigger's keeping me alive, despite me being literal inches from death. I'd say that anything else is pretty justified, eh?"_**

And there, circled and underlined in black and blue pen, were the words that introduced everything I would be working towards.

 _' Black Triggers + Trion Bodies '_

 ** _"Well, I did. And maybe you don't need it, but I'm sure it would be nice regardless. I got my answer from some unintentional help from my friends, and I'm still trying to solidify that goal. The only thing is, I'm not sure if you can get that help from just—Just standing around, doing nothing like this. Doing nothing but standing around, waiting for an answer to fall from the skies because I did that once, and I will never repeat that mistake."_**

That's right.

I've got something stuck in my mind, and I'm not giving up on it.

It's not like I'd ever even _entertain_ the idea of letting go. My best friend's life might depend on it, after all.

( _Mark my_ ** _fucking_** _words. I'm gonna make sure that Yuma survives no matter what, and there's no way I'm leaving his life up to chance_.)

-0-

 _ **A/N -**_

 _ **Well, as stated in the previous chapter... Swapped in is now, officially on hiatus.**_

 _ **Thank you all so much for the understanding reviews, I feel a lot better about the decision now, and after this, I'll probably get start on another fanfic I've been planning. I may be going to other fandoms for now, but World Trigger will always be a favourite of mine.**_

 _ **So long everyone, and thank you so much for the amazing support!**_


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